This Is Your Song
by FlapjackandFluff
Summary: Music AU: Zootopia was supposed to be the city where dreams came true; Judy Hopps certainly believed so & she was banking her music career on it. Nick Wilde, however, was the leader of a small-time band who knew better. Or at least they thought so until the little bunny begins to mess with their heads. Warning: OCs & slow boil WildeHopps. We try to post each week.
1. HIGH HOPES AND INSUFFERABLE INDIVIDUALS

**Hey everyone, Pirate Captain Flapjack here! I've been taking habitual visits to this side of Fanfiction for a while, and I figured I should take a shot at writing something. So, let's get to it. Here're a couple of things you need to know about this fic. 1: This is an AU and the story is completely mine. 1.5: Judy knows Clawhauser beforehand. This is so she at least knows one person beforehand. 2: The size differences in this story aren't nearly as drastic as the movie's (for the sake of some of the characters you'll meet in the story). 3: There will be OCs, but you'll see a lot of the original characters, too. 4: There will be a lot of Fall Out Boy, Paramore, Relient K, Shakira, and more, so brush up on your music, kiddos.**

 **Disclaimer: Yeah, Yeah, Yeah. Zootopia is Disney's and all that.**

 **Okay, here we go!**

 **CHAPTER 01: HIGH HOPES AND INSUFFERABLE INDIVIDUALS**

After the train to Zootopia pulled into the station and opened its doors, its passengers spilled into the already crowded floors of the station. Amidst the chaos, a lone bunny, carrying nothing but a suitcase and a guitar bag slung over her shoulder, stepped onto the platform and looked around. She stared in wonder at the number of flashing signs and the diverse collection of mammals rushing here and there. Being from the rural town of Bunnyburrow, she was used to crowded spaces, but the variety if the city, though was expected, was surprising nonetheless.

In the corner of her eye, she saw a dog in a green beanie and a blue sweater playing guitar as people tossed coins into his case. And for just a moment, a hint of fear flashed over her face, but she quickly shook it off. She proceeded out to the front of the station and looked around for a minute until-

"Judy! Over here!" The bunny turned her head around to see a plump cheetah in a police uniform waving frantically, a goofy smile plastered onto his face. Judy laughed and ran over to him as fast as her suitcase allowed her to. She Jumped up and wrapped her arms as far she could around him.

"It's good to see you again, Benji!" The Cheetah, Benjamin Clawhauser, was a dispatch officer in Zootopia, and he had met Judy during his time at the ZPD training academy. The academy wasn't too far away from Bunnyburrow, so a lot of the officers in training would often come and walk around the town.

"It's so good to see you too!" They let go of each other, Ben grabbed Judy's suitcase and they began walking towards the parking lot. "So, you came after all!"

"Well, yeah! I figured a year of thinking about it was long enough."

While Ben was there, he got a chance to see Judy's abilities firsthand, and he had suggested that she come to Zootopia to get a shot at making it in the big times.

"Well, I'm glad you came." He stopped at a ZPD squad car and opened the back door, placing the suitcase and the guitar bag inside. "After all," He said as he closed the door and opened the passenger door. "This _is_ the city where anything is possible."

* * *

It was 9 o'clock and the red fox sleeping in his bed could do no more to avoid the light that was now piercing through his eyelids. He sat up in his bed and went to stretch his arms upward, but then yelped at the stabbing pain in his right shoulder. He rubbed the spot and winced at the pain it caused.

Opting out of changing, he got up and headed out of his room. When he made it to the main room, the first thing he saw was a fennec fox sitting at the kitchen counter, scrolling through his phone. He looked up at him, then went back to scrolling.

"You look like crap." He stated nonchalantly. The red fox looked down at his disheveled fur and boxers and couldn't help but smirk.

"Good morning to you too, buddy." He walked over to the cupboard, opened it, and pulled out a mug labeled 'Nick's'. "So where are-

"They went out to grab some stuff for tonight." The fennec looked up and saw Nick rubbing his right shoulder. "Will you be good to play? You overdid it last time."

Nick turned around, feigning doe eyes at him.

"Awwwww. Is wittle old Finnick worried about me?"

Finnick scoffed. "Not even close. I need the money that we'll get from playing tonight so I can fix my kick. So, are. You. Good. To. Play?" He inquired as he slid a pack of guitar strings across the table.

Nick poured some coffee into the mug, then placed a hand on the strings, stopping them.

"Yeah, I'll be good to play. I'll drop by CVS and grab some pain meds on my way to Dom's."

Nick took a sip from the mug and left the room to get changed.

* * *

"Okay, so where are we right now?" Judy pulled out her iCarrot phone and opened up an app which loaded a to-do list. "Meet up with Benji, check. Rent out an apartment, Check." She looked around at the apartment Clawhauser helped her get. It wasn't lavish or anything, but it was better than the Pangolin Arms Hotel she was going to bunk at. It had a bedroom, a bathroom, a living room and a kitchen, which was all she needed. On top of that, it was right across from Clawhauser's room. Originally, he said that she could stay at his, but she didn't want too much charity from anyone.

"Okay, so I guess the next thing is to check up on my pa-" As if on cue, her phone started buzzing. The contact number read 'Mom & Dad'. She smiled and swiped it to answer.

"Hey, it's my parents!" She exclaimed. Her parents, Bonnie and Stuart Hopps, appeared on the screen, a mix of worry and pride on their faces.

"Hey there Jude the dude! How's it going in the big city so far?" Stu asked.

"It's going pretty good so far. Clawhauser helped me get an apartment." She rotated the phone to give her parents a view of the apartment.

"It's very nice dear. How is Clawhauser, by the way?" Bonnie chimed.

"He's doing well, he's as jolly as always." Clawhauser had helped around the farm during his break sessions at the academy, and though Judy's parents were uneasy around predators like most of Bunnyburrow's population, they grew to like Clawhauser. "He's gonna take me on a tour around the central city in a couple of hours."

A flash of worry could be seen on her parent's faces after hearing that tidbit of information, but they tried their best to hide it.

"That's… great, Judy, but remember to steer clear of too many predators, okay?"

"Oh Stu, stop."

"Especially foxes."

"… Actually, your father is right about that."

"Do you still have that fox spray we gave you?"

Judy rolled her eyes and grabbed a small bottle out of her bag. The bottle was pink and read "Fox-Spray"

"Yes, I have the spray dad, but I wouldn't worry too much about predators. So far, they seem pretty nice."

"Okay Jude, just be careful."

"I will. I promise. I'll talk to you guys later."

"Okay sweetie, we love you."

"Love you too." She closed out the conversation and rested her head on the table. She DID love her parents deeply, but she couldn't understand why they were so deeply afraid of predators. _I mean, the primitive ages ended long ago!_ She thought. But, as if it were trying to save her from more frustration, her stomach began to rumble.

 _I should probably go get something to eat._ She got up, changed into a pair of jeans and her favorite pink plaid shirt and started to head out the door, but not before looking at the can of fox spray, then pocketing it. _Just in case._

After she got down to the first floor and out the front door, she looked around, and then slapped her forehead. _I don't know where anything is! God, I should have asked Clawhauser where to eat!_ She was about to call him when she saw a red fox in a Hawaiian shirt waiting for a green light to walk. At first, she hesitated, then shook her head and walked over to him.

"Excuse me, sir?" The fox turned his head towards her and pulled his aviators off and pocketed them.

"Hmm?"

"Sorry, I'm new here and I don't really know where anything is. I'm trying to find a place to eat. Do you know where I could go?"

"Actually, I know a small place not far from here. I'm heading there now. If you want, you can join me."

Judy smiled. Though the fox's sense of style was repulsive, he WAS charming. "Sure, I'd like that." He smirked and nodded his head, gesturing for her to follow him. "My name's Judy, by the way."

"Giving away personal information to a stranger? You weren't kidding about not being from here, huh?"

"Well, you won't be a stranger if you tell me your name." He looked at her with a sense of confusion and wonder.

He stuck his paw out to her. "Nick Wilde." She smiled and shook his hand as they kept walking. "So… you're new here, huh? Where you from originally? If you don't my asking."

"Not at all. I'm from Bunnyburrow. It's a rural town a little outside Zootopia."

"So why'd you come here?"

She blushed in embarrassment. "You'd think it's silly."

"Maybe, maybe not. Why don't you tell me and I'll let you know what I think?"

She took a second to think it over but then decided, "Okay. I want to be… a professional musician."

 _Shit_. He thought. "Well… It's a goal." He could see the annoyance starting to grow on her face.

"What do you mean?"

"No offense, Carrots," She winced at the demeaning nickname, "but that's not that realistic of a goal." By now, he could see that he was about to get an earful from her.

"Oh yeah? And what exactly do you do with YOUR life?"

 _Play it cool, Nick. Play it cool._ "I'm a musician."

"And you're telling ME to give up!?" She was now at full-on anger now.

"Okay, I'll make it easier for you to understand. Tell me if this story sounds familiar. Naive little hick with good grades and big ideas decides, 'Hey, look at me, I'm gonna move to Zootopia, where predators and prey live in harmony and sing Kumbaya!'… Only to find, whoopsie, we don't all get along. And that dream of becoming a big city musician? Double whoopsie! She's stuck playing in bars. And whoopsie number three-sie, no one cares about her or her dreams. And soon enough those dreams die and our bunny sinks into emotional and literal squalor, living in a box under a bridge. Till, finally, she has no choice but to go back home with that cute fuzzy-wuzzy tail between her legs to become... You're from Bunnyburrow, you said? So how about a carrot farmer? Does that sound about right?" Nick continues walking, noticing that Judy has stopped, dumbfounded.

"Hey, hey!" Judy ran to catch up to him and stopped in front of him."NO ONE tells me what I can or can't be! Especially not some jerk who never had the guts to try and be anything more than whatever the hell he is!"

Nick leaned down so that he could be at eye-level with her. Smooth Emerald eyes met fiery Amethyst. "All right, look, everyone comes to Zootopia thinking they can be anything they want. Well, you can't. You can only be what you are. Sly fox." he pointed to himself, then to her. "Dumb bunny."

Judy clenched her paws into fists "I'm not a dumb bunny."

Nick stood back up. "Sure you're not." He then gestured down the pathway. "You still hungry?"

"I've lost my appetite."

Nick shrugged his shoulders, "Fair enough." and started walking away. "See ya around carrots."

He walked in silence all the way to Dominic's and entered the pub. Dominic's was spacious enough that a good crowd could fit inside. The walls were lined with old family pictures and vinyl records. Tables were set here and there. And the back of the pub was a stage. It wasn't much, but it could fit a full set of instruments and the sound system was pretty good. He walked over to Dominic, the owner of the pub and the son of Nick's 'friend', Mr. Big. Dominic was cleaning the counter at the bar when Nick walked up.

"Hey, Nicky, how ya been?" He said as he tossed the towel over his shoulder. The shrew was shorter than nick by about a foot, so he was standing on a stool, but he was a heavy-set shrew, and could handle himself in a scrap.

"I think I just ruined someone's dreams, Dom." He said and a glass filled with a frothy brew was slid towards him.

"Why'd you go and do that?" Dominic watched as Nick took a swig from the glass.

"I just don't want her to be as crushed as I was when people shut their doors to her."

* * *

Judy slammed the door behind her and fell facedown into her bed. She pulled the pillow over her face and screamed into it. Not long after, she heard the door open.

"Judy, you ok?" It was Clawhauser. Wearing a pair of jeans and a button up shirt. She sat up and smiled genuinely at him. Clawhauser always knew how to light up her day.

"I'm fine Benji. I just met someone unsavory is all."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"Not really."

"Alright." Clawhauser tossed some sunglasses over to her. "Well, if you want, I'm off duty, so I can take you on that tour that I promised you." Judy's ears shot up and she hopped off the bed.

"Sure!" She followed Clawhauser out the door, forgetting all about the stuck-up fox she met a couple minutes earlier.

Clawhauser had treated her to the total package. He showed her all of the clothing stores, the best instrument shops, and even the central park. Judy was having a blast, and then Clawhauser's phone buzzed in his pocket. He opened it up, read the message, and typed something up. When a second message came through, he squealed in delight.

"Judy, some of the guys at the ZPD are going down to a place called Dominic's for dinner and a couple drinks. I asked if you could join us and they said yes! You wanna come?"

Judy, remembering that she didn't eat lunch, jumped in delight. "Sure!"

"Oh, you'll love it. Dominic's is our go-to place for meet-ups."

"Why's that?"

"They've got live entertainment, and there's this one band called the Sidewalk Citizens that's been playing there for a couple years now, and they're really good!"

"Well, it should be a pretty good night for us then, huh? Come on, Let's go!"

* * *

"Clawhauser! Over here!" A cape buffalo in a polo waved over at them, and they walked over to meet them.

"Hey guys, this is Judy Hopps. She just moved here looking for a shot at music." Clawhauser introduced Judy to the group.

"A pleasure Ms. Hopps. I'm Adrian Bogo. I run this lot." He held out his hoof to her and she shook it eagerly.

"Please, just call me Judy."

"That's Fangmeyer, Wolfard, Francine, Mchorn, and Grizzoli." Clawhauser pointed toward the Tiger, Wolf, Elephant, Rhino and Bear all gathered around the table who waved them.

"Well, Judy, if you're looking to get some publicity, this place is as good as any." Bogo explained, but before he could go further, The lights turned on and focused towards the stage. The crowd started clapping as a Fennec, A Siberian Husky, and a Malayan Tiger stepped onto the stage.

"Are those guys the Sidewalk Citizens?" Judy whispered to Clawhauser.

"Yeah, but the lead singer isn't up there." He whispered back. The band members got to their instruments: the fennec to the drum set in the back, the tiger to the bass guitar and the Siberian husky to an electric guitar. They looked at each other and then the fennec started hitting the kick drum. After four timed hits, the tiger plucked a couple notes on his bass. There were a couple of whoo's and yeah's here and there. Suddenly after two measures, the crowd starting singing.

"Na na na na na naa, na naa na na.!" They sang twice, and then what Judy saw next made her eyes pop open.

It was him. That fox from earlier, but it couldn't be. He wasn't wearing that ridiculous shirt anymore. Instead, he was clad in a pair of black pants and a white t-shirt. He was in the crowd when she saw him, and when he lifted the mic to his mouth, what came out was something she didn't expect.

" _I'm here to collect your hearts. It's the only reason that I sing! I don't believe a word you're saying but I can't stop listening!"_ By the time he was at the stage, the room was jamming along to the beat of the song.

" _This is the story of how they met._ _Her picture was on the back of a pack of cigarettes. When she touched him he turned ruby red: A story that they'll never forget, never forget."_ He caught sight of her, and her eyes made a futile attempt to look away. Once again he taunted her with that smirk of his.

" _And all the boys are smoking menthols, girls are getting back rubs._ _I will drift to you if you make yourself shake fast enough. My old aches become new again. My old friends become exes again_. Come on, sing with us! _"_ As if they were in a trance, the crowd in unison sang the next few lines.

" _Whoa, where did the party go? We're ending it on the phone. I'm not gonna go home alone. Whoa, where did the party go?"_ They all screamed.

He looked at her once more with that smirk. _Oh God, what have I gotten myself into?_

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Flapjack: Hey guys! Flapjack and Fluff here!**

 **Fluff: So, I know that we already posted this chapter, but we had originally planned to keep these chapters to a 2k word cap.**

 **Flapjack: But for those who were with us the first go-round, the latter chapters did** _ **not**_ **stay within 2k words, so we decided to just condense some chapters and create a 3k – 4k word cap and keep chapters within** _ **that**_ **length instead** **.**

 **Fluff: So, we went and revised several chapters as well as the author's notes AND fixed several spelling and grammar errors, so the chapters should be a little easier to read now.**

 **Flapjack: AND, since we forgot to mention it earlier, creds to anyone who got the** _ **Rock Dog**_ **reference at the beginning of the chapter.**

 **Fluff: Alright, that's about it. Hope you guys have a good day!**


	2. NOT YOUR AVERAGE 'DUMB BUNNY'

**CHAPTER 02: NOT YOUR AVERAGE 'DUMB BUNNY'**

After a couple of covers of different songs and an original or two, Nick and the others had thanked everyone for the night and retired from the stage. Judy had been tense the entire time because every now and then during the performance, Nick would glance over at her, and her breath would hitch. Not in the way someone does when their crush looks at them. _God no._ I was more along the line of someone refraining from walking on stage and slapping the smirk off a smug fox's face… Something like that. _At least it's over._ She sighed as she thought to herself. Her peace of mind didn't last long, though, when she saw Nick making his way towards the table she and the officers were sitting at. _Oh, God no. Please, please, please don't walk over he-_

"Hey there, Carrots. I thought you weren't hungry?" She looked up and his lopsided grin burned a hole through her. She made no attempt to hide her growing disgust.

"You know Judy, Nick?" The voice was Clawhauser's. _Oh… Right. This is the ZPD's favorite watering hole._

"Of course I do. She didn't tell you? We met earlier today." His haughty behavior was seemingly getting worse by the second. _I swear to God, Nick, if you don't wipe that look on your face, I'll rip it off._

"Judy!" She bolted up and looked over to Clawhauser. "NICK was the unsavory character you were talking about? Nick's one of the nicest guys you'll meet!" Judy tried her best not to, but despite her efforts, she let out a bitter laugh.

"It's not her fault, Ben. I may or may not have given her some advice concerning her pursuit in becoming a musician that she may not have taken very well."

"Are you looking for venues to play at, Judy?" This time, it was Bogo that piped up. Judy began to color with embarrassment.

"… Maybe." She was unsure about how the other officers were going to take it, and she wasn't ready to have her goals mocked twice in one day.

"Well, why didn't you tell us!? Nick, do you think that you can get Dom to let one more mammal play tonight?" _Why would you ask him? He's the one who told me to give up! He wouldn't help me!_

"Sure."

Judy looked over at Nick, and to her disbelief, the smug grin was gone. Instead, his face donned the same look he gave her when they first met. She was dumbfounded.

"Re-Really?"

He shrugged "Why not?" He nudged his head away from the table. "Come on. I'll introduce you to the guys." Still dumbfounded, she got up and began to follow him, her eyes never leaving him. Where did this guy come from? Just a second ago, he was a smug jerk who thought himself better than her, but now, he was that friendly face that she met at the corner of the street. "Hey, guys. I've got someone I want you to meet." Nick reached his paw behind her and gently pushed her forward. Her eyes left Nick and fell upon the three faces she had just seen on stage. "This is Judy Hopps. She's trying to become a professional musician. I'm gonna try to get her a quick spot on tonight's entertainment. Look after her for a second, huh?" and with that, Nick was gone. For a couple seconds, there was an awkward silence between the four, until the husky decided to break it.

"Nice to meet you Judy. I'm Joey." The husky spoke in an Irish accent as he held out his paw for a handshake, which Judy shook. "The tiger is Noah and the shorty is Finnick." He quipped, earning him a clip on the shoulder.

"Nice to meet you guys."

"The pleasure's all ours." Noah responded with a heavy Cockney accent. "Nick mentioned you to us earlier today. If you don't mind our asking, how'd you meet Nick?"

Judy immediately winced at the memory. "I was looking for a place to eat, and he offered to take me to lunch."

"And then you told him about how you wanted to become a famous musician, and then he laughed at you?" Joey huffed with a familiarity of someone who's had this conversation plenty of times before.

"Um… no, actually. He never laughed." That caught the band's attention. "I mean, he pretty much shot it down, but he never laughed in my face. He just told me that it couldn't happen." The band looked at each other and then back at her. _What's going on?_ Before she could convey her confusion, Nick had walked back to the table.

"Guess what, Carrots. Dom is gonna let you have the stage. You get ONE song, so make it good."

Judy was ecstatic, but then she had a horrible realization. "My guitar! I left it at home."

"Hey, hey, hey, Chill out. You can use mine." Nick pulled out a guitar case, and after opening the case, Judy gasped. The guitar was old and there were a few gouges and chips in the wood, but it was beautiful. She grabbed the guitar and looked up at him.

"Wh-Why would you-"

"Don't mistake this for kindness. I think you're gonna fail miserably, but I figured I might as well load the gun you plan on firing." After she saw the smug look plastered onto his face again, she donned a smirk of her own. _Just you wait, slick. I'll show you._ Then she was off. Nick leaned up against the counter and watched as she walked up on stage.

Joey leaned over to him. "You don't actually think she's gonna fail." Nick glanced over at Joey, and joey handed him a glass.

The moment she stepped onto the stage, Judy was overwhelmed. The pub seemed so much smaller from down on the ground. Up on the stage, the lights seemed brighter, the crowd seemed bigger and she seemed smaller. She stepped up to the mic.

"Hi everyone." She spoke timidly. "I'm Judy Hopps, and if it's alright, I'd like to sing to you." She took a look around and her eyes landed on Clawhauser, who was silently trying to egg her on. He was mouthing something like _You can do this_.

"What're you singing?" She heard a voice that sounded distinctly like Noah's. She looked over at the counter where Nick and his band were sitting. She then began running through a few songs she could do before settling down on one.

"I'll be singing a song called Pompeii. My brother wrote the song for me when I was little." She then glanced over at Nick, who simply nodded once. She was immediately filled with determination. She began plucking the strings with the finesse of a master, then lifted her mouth to the mic.

" _I was left to my own devices. Many days fell away with nothing to show"_ She closed her eyes and let the words roll off her tongue. It had years since she last heard these words. As she plucked the strings, she let the music take over.

" _And the walls kept tumbling down_ _in the city that we love._ _Great clouds roll over the hills_ _,_ _bringing darkness from above."_ She pulled her fingers from the strings and let them resonate for a second.

" _But if you close your eyes,"_ She brought a hand down over the strings, strumming gently. _"_ _Does it almost feel like nothing changed at all? And if you close your eyes, does it almost feel like you've been here before? How am I gonna be an optimist about this? How am I gonna be an optimist about this?"_ She opened her eyes to see everyone in the pub looking straight at her. Smiling, she began to strum a little louder.

" _We were caught up and lost in all of our vices. In your pose as the dust settled around us"_ Nick, by this time, was dumbstruck. He'd heard many voices, some good some bad, but he'd never heard anything like hers. But what truly amazed him was how engrossed she was into the music.

" _And the walls kept tumbling down_ _in the city that we love._ _Great clouds roll over the hills_ _,_ _bringing darkness from above."_ She suddenly stopped singing and leaned into the mic.

" _But if you close your eyes,"_ and almost as if by magic. Mammals her and there began clapping to the beat. _"Does it almost feel like nothing changed at all? And if you close your eyes, does it almost feel like you've been here before? How am I gonna be an optimist about this? How am I gonna be an optimist about this?"_

"She began to start vocalizing and the audience started to sing along. _"Eheu eh-o Eheu eh-o, Eheu eh-o Eheu eh-o, Eheu eh-o Eheu eh-o, Eheu eh-o Eheu eh-o"_ She went back to strumming gently.

" _Oh where do we begin, the rubble or our sins? Oh where do we begin, rubble or our sins?_ Keep singing that." And the audience kept singing.

" _And the walls kept tumbling down_ _in the city that we love._ _Great clouds roll over the hills_ _,_ _bringing darkness from above."_ And once again, she let the chord resonate.

" _But if you close your eyes,"_ and then the clapping resumed. " _Does it almost feel like nothing changed at all? And if you close your eyes, does it almost feel like you've been here before? How am I gonna be an optimist about this? How am I gonna be an optimist about this?"_

" _Eheu eh-o Eheu eh-o, Eheu eh-o Eheu eh-o, Eheu eh-o Eheu eh-o, Eheu eh-o Eheu eh-o"_ As the chanting subsided, it was replaced by claps and cheers. She got off stage and walked back over to Nick, who was still leaning up against the counter, but his smirk was replaced by a warm smile.

"Still think I don't stand a chance?" She asked, donning Nick's trademark smirk. He laughed a bit to himself.

"You did good, cottontail."

"Did good!? She frickin killed it up there!" Finnick jumped up and held out his paw for a fist-bump, which Judy returned.

"Alright, Alright. It's one thing to get a bunch of people in a bar to notice you. Now you've got to do what we've been trying to do for years now. And that's getting a chance in the big times." Nick said in a rather 'matter-of-fact' tone.

"I think that I might be able to help with that." Judy, Nick and the others turned to the sound of the slick English voice behind them. There stood a nicely dressed hare with striped markings on his ears and cheeks.

"…What?" Noah piped up.

"Oh, Sorry. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Jack Savage," He then fished a wallet out of his pocket and tossed a card reading his name and a phone number. "and I'm the mammal who wants to give you a shot."

"What're you talking about?" Nick inclined as he picked up the card Jack slid onto the counter. "You some kind of record label or something?"

Jack stifled a small chuckle. "No, nothing like that. Think of me as a glorified assistant." he tapped on the counter and Dominic slid him a glass. He nodded to him and continued explaining. "Essentially, what I do is find you venues, help you maintain a good public appearance and manage your schedule. And what I'm asking is for you to hire me."

"Why us?" Nick, Jack and the others turned to look at Judy. "I mean, Nick just plays at bars and I'm just a bunny with high hopes."

"That's exactly why I want to help you." They turned back to Jack with a look of anticipation. "I grew up in London wanting nothing, living comfortably while others didn't. When I was a boy, my father told me to be kind to those less fortunate. That's exactly what I'm trying to do here."

Nick and the others looked at each other, then back at Jack. This was, in a way, what they were looking for. Sure, it wasn't exactly what they expected, but an assistant would make setting things up easier. _And maybe the industry will accept a smooth hare over a sly fox._ But could things be as easy as this? Nick grew up knowing one truth, 'you have to take what you want'. Could the one thing that he wanted more than anything really just be given to him?

"How about this? I let you all think about it. When you have an answer, call me." He left a twenty in his now empty glass and slid it back over to Dominic, who caught it with one paw, and then left the pub.

Judy, unlike Nick, was ecstatic about already gaining publicity the first week of moving in. "Did you guys not hear him? He wants to help you guys gain some publicity! Isn't that what you wanted?" The guys were silent for a while until Joey spoke up.

"It's not that, Judy. We want to believe that this hare wants to help us, but out for the kindness of his heart? We just find that a little hard to believe."

"Regardless," Nick spoke up again. "He's given us some time to think about it. So we'll do just that." Judy opened her mouth in protest, but a familiar voice called out for her before she got a chance to say anything.

"Judy! Over here!" Judy heard Clawhauser call out to her. She left the counter and walked over to Clawhauser.

"That girl is definitely something." Noah huffs.

"Yeah." Nick replies. "Definitely something."

 **SCENE BREAK**

As Nick laid in his bed that night, his mind couldn't help but think about the day's events. First, he meets that bunny and shoots her dreams down. Then he meets her again and for some ridiculous reason, he decides to help her out.

 _Quit lying to yourself._

 _What?_

 _Deep down inside, you like her._

 _She's stubborn._

 _Yeah, a lot like you._

 _Why am I arguing with myself?_

Nick didn't have many friends, save the guys and some of the officers at the ZPD. Given his past, he never had much room for trust. _But that bunny was something different. She actually BELIEVES that she can make it._ Of course, then that hare showed up saying that he wants to help them. He pulled the card out of his pocket.

 **Jackson G. Savage  
609-555-4780**

 _Jack, huh?_ That hare was a real puzzle. Nick had been out in the big bad world long enough to know that mammals usually tend to look out for themselves first, yet he was also good at sniffing out a lie when he heard one. But that was just it: Jack wasn't lying, but how couldn't he? Could someone really do something out of the goodness of their heart?

Shaking off the thoughts in his head, he opted to solve his problems tomorrow and his eyes slowly closed as he drifted off to sleep.

 **SCENE BREAK**

Clawhauser was bouncing alongside Judy, who was walking with her hands in her pockets. He was talking about something, but she was half-invested in the conversation; her mind was deep in thought about today's events: first Nick, then the pub, then that strange hare. Nick had been sweet, then sour, then something confusing. He was a puzzle she couldn't quite put together. She couldn't understand what made him the way he is. And then that hare, Jack, had offered, on a silver plate, the one thing that every rising musician is looking for, yet he had recoiled, unsure about whether to take it.

"Earth to Judy. Come in, Judy." Judy looked up to see Clawhauser staring at her.

She sighed "Sorry, Benji. I was just thinking."

"About Nick or that hare?"

"Ugh… Both." She ran her paws through the fur atop her head in frustration. "I mean, Jack was offering to help out, but Nick didn't seem like he even WANTED to take him up on the offer! Is he really that afraid?"

"It's a lot more complicated than that." Clawhauser spoke in a soft tone. Judy looked back up at him with concern. Ben was normally very jovial and happy, but now, a something somber occupied his eyes.

"…What do you mean?" She then saw him shake his head.

"That's not really my place. You'll have to ask him."

"So, what you're saying is that I'll never know." Judy lamented. Even though Nick displayed some hint that he wasn't totally evil, he was still a pompous jerk. There was no way he'd tell her anything.

"Well, you could ask one of his band members," her ears lifted up into the air, "But even they would probably give you a teaser and then tell you to ask him yourself." Then fell back down. _So it's pretty much hopeless._

 _Why do you care? He's just a jerk with an inflated ego._

 _No, I think that there's something more to it than that._

 _Okay, but that still doesn't answer my question._

 _You mean mine?_

 _Whatever. Why care? He's just like Gideon._

 _Actually, he kinda reminds me of Mr. Robin-_

"So what about you?" Judy snapped out of her personal argument. "Are you gonna take Jack up on his offer?"

Judy hadn't thought about that. She definitely wanted to, but she wasn't sure if she should. This was her first day in the city. If she were to take him up on his offer, she _could_ get what she wanted… or she could end up being overwhelmed and then end up back at square one. Plus, she would have no one beside her. Judy was not one for stereotypes, but like most bunnies, she liked community. Being famous with no one to share it with would become too lonely for her.

But on the other side, Jack was offering something at it too good to pass up.

"I'll… have to think about it."

 **SCENE BREAK**

 _One week later._

Judy stumbled to her front door with four bags of groceries. A week in and she had decided that she couldn't live off of take-out forever. As she dropped the bags to the floor so she could fish her keys out of her pocket, she heard something from the inside of her reached for the knob and twisted it. To her surprise, it was unlocked. She grabbed her bags, brought them in and set them on her kitchen counter. She then opened her crossbody bag and grabbed a taser out of it. Judy was by no means a violent individual, but she didn't mind resorting to it if push came to shove. She craned her neck to her the sound better.

A guitar?

Her ears perked up and she listened intently. She could hear what sounded like Jon Mayor's "Why Georgia" resonating through the house. Whoever was playing was _good_. She followed the sounds to her bedroom. She opened the door, prepared to drop whoever dared to invade her apartment.

Or so she thought.

"Nick!?"

The red fox looked up at her and put on his trademark smirk. "Funny meeting you here carrots."

"What the hell are you doing in my apartment?"

"Ben let me in." He replied nonchalantly. Nick was sitting on her bed in blue jeans and a grey sleeveless shirt. as he set the guitar gently on the bed and walked over to her. "You planning on tasing me?" Judy looked down, realizing that she still had the taser facing towards him.

"I'm considering it." Nick raised an eyebrow as he took two digits and pushed the taser away from him.

"Relax, cottontail." He told her as he walked past her and grabbed an apple out of one of the grocery bags, taking a bite out of it. "I've already eaten my share of little prey for the day."

She rolled her eyes and put the taser down. He swallowed and gestured towards her room.

"Beautiful guitar. What's her name?"

"Luna she's my brother's. He gave her to me when he left the house."

"I'm assuming this is the same brother whose song you sang at Dominic's. You seem pretty influenced by him."

"Yeah." She smiled softly at the memory of her brother. "He left for Zootopia to get ahead of the music game." She then realized that she allowed Nick to come in, play her guitar, eat her food and then dig into her personal life. _What the hell am I doing?_ "Did you want something?" She spat out, trying her hardest to make her frustration known.

"Oh yeah. Did you take Jack up on his offer?" Nick watched as Judy's frustration morphed into confusion.

"Why?"

Nick shrugged. "Just wondering." He then watched as she shifted in her space.

"…no." Now it was Nick's turn to be confused. Judy caught sight of his expression. "I mean, not yet. I'm new to the city and I don't know how things work around here."

"Is that it?"

"No… I don't have a band."

"Plenty of musicians are independent. Gazelle is." He stated, pointing to a stack of CDs, most of which consisted of Gazelle and We Left as Spartans. Judy rolled her eyes.

"I know, I know, I know, but even Gazelle's boyfriend leads her dancers. It's just… I'd be lonely if it was just me and no one to share it with." She looked back over at him, who nodded his head to indicate that he understood After that, they stood in silence for a little while until Nick spoke up.

"Well, it took some time but the guys and I decided that we're going to take him up on the offer and I-"

"Came to gloat?" Here was the Nick that she knew.

"No. I came to ask if you'd like to be a part of our band." She snapped back to look at him again.

"What?"

"You heard me."

"Yeah, I heard, but why?"

"Because, though I think that you're an insufferable little ball of fluff," She glared at him, but didn't say anything "You're an amazing singer. We figured that if you didn't take the deal, we'd offer to let you join us." Judy was confused. Why would he be doing this?

"What would I be doing?"

"You'd be singing. I'd sing some, you'd sing some. Stuff like that." Nick could see that she was thinking about it. "I mean, you don't have to. I don't care either way."

"I'll do it."

For a quick second, Nick looked surprised. "Really?"

"Sure, why not?" Nick looked at her with the same wonder and confusion. _This bunny is definitely different. I'll give her that._ His hand went into his pocket and grabbed his phone. He pulled a card out of the other pocket and started dialin a number.

"What're you doi-" Nick held up a finger, eyes still on the phone. He put it on speaker and set it down on the counter. They listened to the tone once or twice before a smooth English accent spoke through the tinny speakers on the phone.

"Jack Savage. Who's this?"

"Jack, It's Nick and Judy. That offer you gave both of us last Saturday; Is it still up for grabs?"

"Oh, Nick. Yeah, it's still valid. Are you taking me up on it?"

"Yeah, we are."

"Perfect. Let's meet up at Dominic's tomorrow at 2:00 pm. I'll bring two contracts."

"Actually, Jack," Judy interjected. "We'll only need one."

 **A/N:**

 **Flapjack: Hey guys, so if you hadn't noticed, we condensed this chapter, too.**

 **Fluff: Yeah, and including this little note, it goes** _ **over**_ **our 4k word cap we established in the** _ **last**_ **chapter.**

 **Flapjack: [grumbling] give me a break would ya? No one's perfect.**

 **Fluff: Well, anyways, this chapter is rather stuffed with content. Nick (obviously) has a dark past, but this time, it's not just the Junior Ranger Scouts.**

 **Flapjack: And who is this Mr. Robin?**

 **Fluff: All these questions will be answered throughout the fic, so we suggest you keep reading.**

 **Flapjack: But we will answer a couple questions before we go. John Mare is John Mayor, Gazelle is Shakira, and We Left As Spartans is We Came As Romans.**

 **Fluff: That's it. We love you guys and we hope everyone has a good day. See ya next time!**


	3. A TATTOO SOME TALES AND A BOTTLE OF JACK

**CHAPTER 03: A TATTOO, SOME TALES, AND A BOTTLE OF JACK**

Joey was never one for surprises. Being a former bounty hunter from Dublin meant that he preferred when things didn't happen without his knowing so. However, when he had returned from picking up lunch to find Nick walking with Judy down the sidewalk, he couldn't help but smile. _Well, well, well. She said yes after all._ Just as they were about to walk inside the apartment complex, Joey snuck up behind them.

"Well, had I known that you were picking up lunch for us, I would've just stayed home." Judy jerked her around and smiled as she jumped up and gave Joey a big hug. He fell back a few steps, then laughed. "On a hugging basis, already? We've only just met." He joked.

"It's good to see you, Joey." She let go of him and saw that, like Nick, he had a trademark smirk of his own.

"Well, it's good to know that you remembered my name." He quipped. "So, I'm guessing that you decided to join the riff raff?"

"Well, Nick said that you guys wanted me to join, and I figured that I could do worse."

"Oh, he _did_ , did he?" He turned around and gave Nick a knowing glance before turning around. "Well, you definitely could do worse than us."

She giggled a little and he let his smirk fade into a warm smile as his mismatched eyes softened. "Seriously though, it's good to see you again. Hopefully, you'll grow to like the guys." He gestured towards the door to the apartment complex. "Our joint apartment is on the top floor at the end of the hallway. Finnick and Noah are up there." She nodded and took her leave. As soon as she left Joey gave Nick another knowing look.

" _We_ wanted her to join?" He pried and Nick responded with a nervous laugh. "Wouldn't want her knowing that you're a frickin' softie, would we?"

"Very funny, Joey." He said as they walked in.

* * *

Judy made her way down the hall and stood in front of an old door with a welcome mat that read 'we're loud. Be warned'. She smiled and knocked on the door.

"Yo, Joey! Someone's at the door!" She heard something that sounded like Finnick's Bronx accent, followed by Noah's cockney one.

"Joey went out to get lunch. Just open the door!"

"Argh! Fine!" The doorknob wiggled a bit and she could hear Finnick swearing under his breath. The door opened and the disheveled fennec stood at the door in his boxers. His gaze met Judy's and his scowl softened. "Judy. What're you-" He cut off his sentence and a realization hit him as a smile crept over his face. "You said yes, didn't ya?"

"Very astute, Finnick." She quipped, then smiled warmly. "Yes, yes I did."

"Well, then. Welcome to the family." He said as he stepped to the side.

Judy was overwhelmed by the messy apartment the moment she walked through the door. Papers were strewn across the room, dishes were piled up in the sink, instruments were hanging haphazardly off chairs and sofas, and heaps of used clothes occupied the corners of rooms. All in all, the place looked horrible, and it probably smelled just as bad as it looked had it not been for the multiple air fresheners plugged into outlets all over the room.

"This place is a mess." She deadpanned, then heard Finnick huff.

"What'd you expect?" He reasoned, grabbing a t-shirt and tossing it onto a nearby pile. "Four guys bunking in the same apartment equals a year-long mess." Judy opened her mouth in retort, but stopped when she heard footsteps, followed by a shirtless tiger.

"Oh, Judy! Hey!" Noah exclaimed and quickly pulled a t-shirt over his body. "What're you doing here?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure." And she wasn't. They had met up with Jack, signed him on, and then Nick had told her to follow him. They ended up at this old apartment complex, which she now knew was where they lived.

"Well, before you can _officially_ join us, there's a couple of things you need to know and an initiation you have to undergo." Judy heard Nick's voice and turned to see him and Joey walk in. Joey proceeded to open up a big brown bag and toss its contents to the band members.

"Wait," Noah said, catching a box of rice. "You're not talking about-"

"Yeah, Noah, I am."

"You sure that's a good idea, Nick?" She turned to look at Finnick. His face was indifferent as he picked at his noodles, but his tone was questioning. "I mean, she _is_ a country bunny, after all. No offense, cottontail." The bunny's brow furrowed in determination. She could tell that if she was going to be in this group, she would have to prove herself, and being the spite-fire bunny that she was, she wasn't about to back down.

"It's alright, guys. Whatever it is, I can take it." Nick's eyebrows rose in question, then he smirked and pulled up his shirt, revealing a tattoo covering his right side. It was a tribal tattoo of a broken sword over a cracked shield, and it covered his right ribcage to his abdomen. The other members followed suit, each revealing the same tattoo: Finnick's extending from the base of his neck down to his shoulder and upper arm, Noah's down the middle of his chest, and Joey's covering his left forearm.

"It's our mark." Nick spoke up, pulling his shirt back down and the rest did the same. "We all carry one as a promise to stand together no matter what. His smirk faded and his emerald eyes steeled themselves. "If you want in, you need to prove it to us that you want it just as much as we do."

Judy was quiet for a moment, and then she nodded.

"I'll do it."

"You need to understand that this isn't just about some tattoo. You do this, and you don't get a chance to back out, ever." Nick warned, then the smirk returned to his face. "Plus, tattoos aren't all to fun to get."

That time, Judy hadn't even hesitated.

"Let's get it done. I mean, how hard can it be?"

* * *

 _7:30 p.m. Sidewalk Citizens' room_

Judy was still whimpering and rubbing the spot on her side where she had gotten the tattoo. The process had required the artist to shave the spot where the tattoo would be etched into. The ink he used would permanently change the color of the fur that would grow back, so the tattoo would always be visible. A part of the initiation was that she had to get the entire tattoo done in one sitting, which only added to the pain. She had chosen to get her tattoo on her right side, same as Nick.

' _To remind you that I'm every bit you're equal, if not better.'_ Was her reasoning, but she had not realized that the spot where Nick had gotten his was extremely painful. She felt as though some one was stabbing her when the needle met her ribs. Now, she was sitting in the apartment, shirtless, with bandages covering her lower torso, rubbing at the spot and whimpering.

"If you keep rubbing it, it'll never get better." Joey stated. After they had gotten back to the room, Nick left to grab dinner, leaving Judy with the guys. Joey was making a mango-peach smoothie while Noah and Finnick were searching through a mess of clothes for God knows what. "Perhaps we could do something to take your mind off the pain." He poured a glass and placed it in front of Judy, who thanked him for it and sipped from a straw, immediately forgetting about the stinging pain in her side.

"mmmmm. Like what?"

"Well," Joey rubbed the back of his head while wondering what to do. "We don't really know anything about you, and I guess you know next-to-nothing about us. How about we get to know each other a bit?"

Judy's eyes lit up at the notion. "Sure!"

"Okay, well, let's start with you."

"Alright, what do you wanna know?"

"Anything, we guess." Finnick and Noah called back, still searching.

"Okay, I guess we can start with my family. My parents are carrot farmers. They have 275 kits." There was a moment of silence, and Judy continued. "Of those kits, I'm one of the older ones. I was a bit of a spite-fire type of kit, never settling in one place. I was about 10 years old when I realize that I had a talent for music. I became consumed by it… so much that I didn't have too many friends growing up. I ended up being outgoing and friendly, but secluding myself to a small group of friends and my family. One of my older brothers, Nathan, took notice of my musical talent and began to tutor me: How to play, read, sing and write.

When he turned twenty he left for Zootopia to take his shot at becoming a big star, and that's where I got my drive from, I guess. Soooo that's about it. What about you, Joey?"

Joey pointed to himself. "Me? Hmm, well I guess I'll start at the beginning, too. My old man was a bounty hunter in Ireland and my ma was a thief he was chasing. He managed to catch her, but by the time he had, they had fallen in love. They abandoned their perspective lifestyles and started a family. They gave birth to me, and I was born with mismatched eyes: a yellow right eye like my mum and a blue right one like my pop. They always said that it was because I was born with the best traits of them both. I met Noah in third grade, and we've been friends ever since."

"I was born a poor little runt on the streets of London." Noah piped up. He and Finnick picked up an old book and brought it to the table, opening it up to a group of little kits that Judy realized was them when they were little. "My parents were grifters, but I loved music. We met Joey's family who took us in and helped us out. Our parents started up a boxing gym, where I officially met Joey. We both had an ear for music, so we played together in our spare time.

"We met Nick and Finnick when we were fourteen, when Nick's dad met up with Joeys: They were old friends. The four of us, realizing that we all loved music, started playing together. When Joey's parents and mine saw the four of us, they sent us back with them to Zootopia because they believed we could be something great."

Judy looked over at Finnick. "Hold up, you went with Nick and his dad to another entire country? And your parents were okay with that?" An awkward silence filled the room and Judy saw Noah and Joey looking at Finnick, anticipating his answer.

"Well, if you're best friends parents are also yours, why not?" was his reply, and it took Judy a while top realized what he meant. But when she did, she was filled with guilt.

"…You're adopted."

"Yeah, I am." He flipped to a page in the book, showing a young Nick and Finnick making popsicles in the snow out of paw prints, a sign reading "Pawpsicles: $1" in the background, and Judy saw Finnick give a warm smile. "I never knew my biological parents; they abandoned me the day I was born. I was passed on between homeless mammals who tried to take care of me until I was about five or six, and then I'd fend for myself to the next few years." Judy began to tear up. "I was about eight years old when Nick and his mother met me. They took me in, made me a part of the family, and for the first time ever, I was happy."

"Did you ever try looking for you're real family." Judy asked, and then Judy shook his head in disbelief.

"What're you talking about? Nick and his family? _They_ were my real family. They took care of me when no one else wanted to. The only thing my 'parents' did for me was give birth to me." He spat. Judy looked at him, and then to Noah and Joey. The three of them had one main thing in common: Nick. Nick and his family seemed to have done something for each of them. _So why is he the way he is now?_

"What about Nick?"

"What about him?"

"What's his story?"

"That's not our place to say." Finnick warned. "You wanna know Nick's story? You ask him yourself."

"Can you at least tell me why he is the way he is now? You all make it sound like Nick and his family were the greatest mammals in the world. So why is he such a jerk now?" The three of them looked at each other, then Joey sighed.

"It's not so much one singular thing as much as it is a collection of events in his life."

"What do you mean?"

"Let's just say that Nick has experienced more pain in his life than he deserves." Noah explained.

"What happened to him?"

"Like Finnick said: If you wanna know what happened, you'll have to ask him yourself." And once again, Judy found herself with more questions about Nick than she had answers. She slumped into her chair, defeated.

Then the four turned to see Nick opening the front door, five boxes of food precariously balancing in his hands.

"Hey guys, who's hungry?"

* * *

 _9:30 p.m. Sidewalk Citizens' Room_

The trashcan was now full of takeout boxes and plastic forks after the five ate everything. Several bottles of Jack Daniels later, they were all sitting around in the living room, laughing as they made jokes and told stories. It was after hearing about how Noah convinced Finnick to dress up like a baby so he could pose as a babysitter and get a community worker's discount for groceries that Judy fought fits of giggles to check her phone.

"Okay guys," Judy managed to say. "I've got to get home."

"What're you talking about? This _is_ home!" Joey commented and Judy shook her head, still giggling.

"No, it's not, silly. I live two blocks down."

"Not anymore, you live two _doors_ down. Joey and I moved your stuff over while you were getting your tat." Noah slurred and went to take another sip from his glass, only for his lips to be met with emptiness. Judy was now frustrated. Still drunk, but frustrated nonetheless.

"What!? You didn't tell me! What about Benji!? What about my rent!? How do you guys even own a second room!?" She interrogated, still laughing. Somehow, she still found this whole situation quite funny.

"A second _room_? We own this entire floor, cottontail!" Finnick howled, and Judy stood there, confused.

 _9:30 p.m. Sidewalk Citizens'_ _ **FLOOR**_

"…But how? I thought-"

"That we were starving? Please Carrots, we work jobs. Plus, we know the landlord." Nick took another swing straight from the bottle and winced for a second. "And Benji was the one that suggested you move in. We paid off the rent and cancelled it." Judy was dumbstruck. How had so much happen within two days?

"We look out for family." Finnick said and Judy saw Nick get up and walk towards her.

"That is, if you still want to be a part of it?"

"…Yeah, sure." She answered. Nick smirked and opened the door, and everyone stumbled out. Nick closed the door to the main room and led Judy to the room two doors down. At the foot of the door was her carrot-styled welcome mat and, sure enough when Nick opened the door, all of her things were inside. Judy strolled in and analyzed the room. It wasn't as big as her other room, and it didn't have a kitchen, but it did have a bathroom, a shower, and a bed.

"It's not as big, but seeing as how we own the floor, it's pretty nice." Judy turned around to see Nick leaning against the door way. _Should I ask now?_ And as if to answer her question, her mouth opened to speak.

"What happened to you?" Nick's eyes widened for a moment and she could see that he was wondering what to say. And then he motioned to speak, but what he said wasn't what she was looking for.

"I don't think I'm ready to say yet, Carrots. _Maybe_ one day, but not today." He pulled something out of his pocket and tossed it to her. She caught it and looked at it. It was a pick with a broken sword and shield carved into it. She looked up to see that the smirk on his face had returned. "Get some sleep, fluff. We're gonna have some serious headaches in the morning."

With that, he closed the door and left. That night, as they got into their respective beds, one thought occupied their minds.

 _This is gonna be harder that I thought._

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Flapjack: Hey guys! So we got a review from a guest, saying this.**

Guest, Chapter 2 . Oct 26: "Please don't make Judy's brother a Mary Sue again. I stopped reading this last time because of that, and I was loving this story, 'till it happened."

 **Fluff: We got a couple PMs saying the same thing, so we'd like a suggestion, if you don't mind. What would you suggest we fix? Make him less perfect? More sarcastic? What?**

 **Flapjack: Anyways, yeah. If there's anything you guys don't like, then feel free to let us know. But until next time, we hope you new people enjoyed this chapter, and you older ones stay patient. Trust us, it'll be worth the wait.**

 **Fluff: Until next time, guys!**


	4. PAWLAPALOOZA?

**CHAPTER 04: PAWLAPALOOZA!?**

As the morning light shown through the window, the covers rustled in Judy's room. She pulled the covers down and dared to open her eyes, only to experience a shooting pain and immediately close them again. _God!_ She drew a hand up to her head. _Where am I?_ She went to lick her lips, only to find that her entire mouth was dry. _Oh God. What is this!?_

 **PERSPECTIVE CHANGE**

It was 10:00 a.m. by the time Nick woke up, a pulsing headache ready to meet him. He stumbled out of his room and to the kitchen to fish a water jug out of the fridge. Popping the cap off, he closed his eyes and took a long swig. After setting the jug down, he pulled out his phone and pulled up a contact labelled 'Katie'. The phone rang for a few seconds, then a smooth voice answered.

 _ **Katie: Nick?**_

 _ **Nick: Hey Katie. Is Lily there?**_

 _ **Nick: Yeah, would you like to talk to her?**_

 _ **Nick: If that's okay, yes I would.**_

 _ **Katie: Okay, just a second.**_ The phone went silent for a few seconds until he heard a yawn and his favorite voice.

 _ **Nick: Good Morning, Lily.**_

 _ **Lily: Mmmm, good morning.**_

 _ **Nick: Have fun?**_

 _ **Lily: Yeah, Katie and I stayed up all night last night.**_ Nick couldn't help but smile. _She's gonna be the death of me._

 _ **Nick: So I'm guessing that you're gonna want to sleep when you get back?**_

 _ **Lily: Definitely. Did you play last night?**_

 _ **Nick: No, I talked with a few new friends.**_

 _ **Lily: You made some new friends? Yay! Can I meet them sometime?**_ Nick's eyes widened. He hadn't thought about that. He never told Judy about Lily. What would she think about it? _Wait, why does it matter?_

 _Because it means she'll know more about you._

 _ **Nick: …Maybe. She's a fairly new 'friend', so I don't know how'd she'd react to you.**_

 _ **Lily: Okay, well, Katie invited to take me to the fair today, so I was wondering if you'd be okay if I stayed with her for one more day?**_ As if on cue, a lightbulb went off in Nick's head. _Perfect, one less thing to deal with._

 _ **Nick: Sure thing . do you mind if I talk to Katie really quick?**_

 _ **Lily: Sure.**_ Some ruffling could be heard before Katie was on the other line again.

 _ **Katie: So, it's okay for her to stay one more day?**_

 _ **Nick: Definitely. I've got some things to take care of over here, so take your time.**_

 _ **Katie: Alright. Thanks. We'll keep in touch.**_

 _ **Nick: Bye.**_

Just as Nick turned off his phone, a blur of Grey busted through the door. Nick winced at the loud sound and Judy gazed around the room before setting her eyes on the Jug of water Nick had sitting on the table. Nick slid it forward and she jumped at it and began to chug the water. "Well, good morning to you too." He quipped and Judy held out her hand shaking it violently, as if to say 'hold on, let me finish.' After she had drunk half the jug, she set it down and took a deep breath and looked over at Nick.

"Is that supposed to happen?"

"Well, you drank two-thirds of a bottle of Jack, soooo yeah." Nick slipped out of his chair and opened up the freezer, grabbing an ice pack and tossing it to Judy. She placed it against her forehead and fell onto the couch. The moment her body hit the couch, the door flung open again as the rest of the band entered the room. As the door hit the wall, everyone winced and Nick groaned. "God, we're all hungover, so stop making loud noises." The response was a collective groan from the three who then proceeded to grab another jug of water.

Just as they began to sit down, someone knocked at the door, causing yet another collective wince from the band. The knob twisted and a striped bunny in jeans and a white dress shirt with rolled up sleeves walked in. He looked at the members who were cradling their jugs like they were their precious children.

"What did I miss?" His British accent, which was normally silky smooth, sounded like sandpaper on their ears. He walked to the cabinet and searched for a bottle of Advil. Grabbing a couple of bottles, he turned and tossed them to the band. "Take a few. I need you all in tip-top shape."

"Why? What's going on?"

"I've gotten you a gig."

As if the hangover had suddenly been purged from their systems, they all shot up and looked straight at the bunny.

"That's impossible. We just signed you on. How-"

"I took the liberty of putting the Sidewalk Citizens name out in public, tagged with a few videos from last week, and a venue opened up immediately. Have any of you ever heard of Pawlapalooza?"

If Nick's eyes widened any more, they might just have popped out of their sockets. He knew the question was rhetorical. _Everyone_ had heard of Pawlapalooza. It was Zootopia's biggest music festival. Aspiring musicians as well as famous ones came together for 3 days of music celebration. Nick had tried multiple times to land a spot on their list, but sadly, he never got a chance.

"You're kidding."

"No, actually. You've got the spot." Nick sat there, dumbfounded, but the rest of the band began jumping up and down, running around and yelling. "Alright, alright. Hold up, there is one catch. You have to audition. If they think you're good enough, they'll let you play." Then the band got quiet. Jack took notice of this, and continued. "Auditions are tonight and yours is scheduled for 8:00 p.m., so I'd suggest getting a few songs in order. I'll see you tonight."

And with that Jack left through the door, closing it behind him. The five of them immediately began scrambling to their rooms to get changed. Nick slipping into a pair of black jeans and a loose white t-shirt, Judy into a pair of plaid skinny jeans and a black tank-top, Noah in a pair of grey jeans and a black button-up, Joey in black joggers and a white plaid shirt, and Finnick shirtless and a pair of Black jeans. They met back up in the main room, and grabbed their instruments, and headed downstairs to the empty garage to practice.

 **SCENE BREAK**

It was 6:30 and the band had spent the entire time practicing. They had played about 8 songs until they settled on two of them: one to play, and one for backup. They were now sitting in Finnick's van, in the parking, about to walk into Pawlapalooza. They hopped out and began unloading their instruments. Nick took a quick glance at Judy and everyone else. They all had the same look that he had on his face: a mix of nervousness and wonder. _God, how did we get here?_ Nick thought to himself. _It was literally last week that we were a dead-beat band and some country bunny. Now we're getting our shot to become something more; to do what we love._

He stood up after checking that he had everything he needed. The rest of them followed suit, and he made eye contact with each one of them. There was a moment of silence before he spoke up.

"I'm guessing we could really use a motivational speech right now, huh?" They chuckled with him, for a second. "Alright guys, tonight's the night. We get this right, we can have a chance to have everything we ever wanted, so let's do this right, huh?" There were a couple of murmurs in agreement, and then he nodded and they began walking.

 _Tonight's OUR night._

 **SCENE BREAK**

 _Holy crap, that's a lot of bands!_

Nick, Judy and the others all stood at the doorway, amazed at the number of mammals that were here for an audition.

"That's a lot of mammals." Nick turned to look at Judy, whose face conveyed nervousness again, and, without thinking, he placed a paw on her shoulder. She looked at him, but his face was still looking at the crowd.

"Overwhelming, I can imagine." They turned to see Jack walking up behind them. "But don't worry, I have faith in you. Come on." He gestured for them to follow him. "We need to sign you in."

 **SCENE BREAK**

Judy was sitting by herself at a table. Noah, Finnick and Joey went to go check the equipment and Nick was grabbing food for them. She had nothing to do, so she pulled out a notepad and began writing.

 _She lives in a fairy tale_ _  
_ _Somewhere too far for us to find_ _  
_ _Forgotten the taste and smell_ _  
_ _Of a world that she's left behind_

She smiled at the lines she wrote. Anytime she was bored or needed to let out some stress, she always settled with writing. However, before she could write anything else, she heard laughing behind her. She turned to see that the source of the laughter was a band looking at her. Her expressions hardened and her brow furrowed.

"What's so funny?" She questioned them, and they realized that she took notice. A hyena in ripped jeans spoke up.

"Nothing… It's just that we were wondering what a cute little bunny like you was doing here." She winced at the sound of him calling her cute.

"Don't call me cute, and I'm here for the same reason as you. I'm auditioning." The laughter resumed.

"Really!? No offense, sweetheart, but what makes you think that you stand a chance?"

"I'm gonna nail that audition, so I'd suggest shutting up." The laughter reached its peak as it became an all-out guffaw.

"Sure thing. Hey! If it doesn't work out, we can always use a couple of cute groupies around." Her cheeks puffed out in anger, but then fear overcame her: fear of failure. _What if we don't make the cut?_

"HEY!" They all turned to see Nick standing off to the side. He set the food he was carrying on Judy's table. "I suggest that you stop talking. After all, with a mug like yours, I'm surprised that you even showed up." The hyena and his band went silent. "Ooh, you can dish it out, but you can't take it, can you? Scram." And with that, they left.

Judy was so confused. Why was Nick doing this? I mean, sure, she was part of the band, but he wasn't ever really that nice to her before. Why defend her? _Why now?_

"Never let them see that they get to you." She looked up to see Nick handing her a cup. She took it and looked back at him.

"Sooo, things _do_ get to you?"

Nick, still not looking at her, shook his head. "Well, not-not anymore, but I was... small and emotionally unbalanced like you once." She rolled her eyes and smirked.

"Har har."

"No, it's true. I think I was eight… maybe nine, and all I wanted to do was join the Junior Ranger Scouts. So, my mom pulled together some money to buy me a brand-new uniform. I was so proud because, by God, I was going to fit in, even if I was the only predator in the troop: the only fox. I was gonna be a part of a pack." Judy smiled at the thought of Nick in a Ranger Scout uniform: at the idea of him being all 'goody-two-shoes'.

"But," She looked back up at him, his eyes lost in the memory. "after I recited the oath, they threw me to the ground and forced a muzzle on me." Her eyes widened. "They told me that they could never trust a fox without a muzzle.

"I learned two things that day. One: I was _never_ gonna let anyone see that they got to me." He was silent for a while before Judy spoke up.

"And two?"

"If the world was only gonna see a fox that was shifty and untrustworthy, there was no point in trying to act any other way." There was another moment of silence, then he spoke again.

"Of course that wasn't the end of it. No, I never learned lessons very easily. I tried my best to shut out the world, but some people just wouldn't let it go. You've met the guys, and they know all about this, but there was someone else. I…" Judy looked up, and this time, Nick's eyes began to water before he blinked it away. She placed a paw on his arm.

"… I met someone." He looked down at her, eyes filled with a mix of happiness and sorrow. "She was this beautiful artic fox named Aurora. I tried to push her away: I was callous, mean, shallow. But no matter what I did, she stayed with me. I fell in love with her, and we were happy."

"What happened?"

"We were young, filled with emotions, and we let them get the best of us." It took Judy a moment, but she realized what he was talking about. "She dropped out of school to raise the baby. Her parents, both strong political icons, disowned her, so mine took her in. Everywhere we went, she was mocked, insulted, spat on." His voice shook as he continued. "One day, she was walking home from a grocery store, and a car hit her dead-on." His eyes began to water again, but this time, he didn't try to stop them. "By the time she made it to the hospital, she had lost too much blood, and was pronounced DOA (Dead On Arrival)." Silence again. Judy didn't know what to say, so she just sat there with him.

"You know what really kills me though?" Judy looked up at him. The happiness was gone, and all that was left was sorrow and anger. "The car that hit her just drove off. And everyone that saw it? _Not one_ called an ambulance. They just left her on the street." He let out a bitter laugh, and Judy was, again, at a loss for words, so she did the only thing she thought reasonable.

She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a hug. They stayed that way for a while until Nick did something Judy didn't expect: He wrapped _his_ arms around her and hugged back.

"Thanks Carrots." He pulled away, eyes still wet, but relieved. "I needed that."

"That's what family's for, right?" Nick smiled, but for the first time, it was a genuine one. "Any other sad stories you'd like to share?" he chuckled under his breath, then shook his head,

"None that I'd like to share in public. Maybe one day, in the comfort of the apartment, where no one can see me cry my eyes out like a baby." Judy smiled sympathetically. Nick had a history of bad luck, and as much as she wished he could just pour it all out, she knew that getting Nick to open up completely was going to be a process, but maybe one day…

Nick then felt arms wrap around his neck and he fell backward a bit.

"Surprise!" Hearing that voice he knew so well, he smirked and reached his arms behind him grabbing the assaulter by her sides. There was a yelp and a blur of Red and White, then a small Artic fox with red streaks in her fur landed in Nick's lap. She giggled and hugged him tightly around the neck and Nick responded in kind.

"Mmph! Hey sweetheart." He pulled her away. "What're you doing here?"

"She heard that her dad was auditioning for Pawlapalooza and she wanted to see you play." Nick and Judy turned to see a slender black panther walk over to them.

"Hey Katie."

"Dad? Katie?" Judy turned to Nick, anticipating an answer.

"Judy, this is Lily, the baby I told you about in the story. Katie here is her tutor. Katie, Lily, this is Judy. The newest member of the band and," He looked at her for a second, then smiled warmly again.

"My friend."

 **A/N: Flapjack: More OCs!**

 **Fluff: It's only fair.**

 **Flapjack: Hey guys it's Flapjack and Fluff! So this is getting a little crazy here. We're gonna admit, this was a pretty hard chapter for us to write, because this is actually a memory from our past, though Aurora wasn't the girl's name.**

 **Fluff: So here's the first part of Nick's story, though it won't be the last. We feel as though it would be better if we kinda spread Nick's story across the fic. Hopefully you liked the chapter. For those who are wondering about the lyrics Judy was writing, it was** _ **Brick by Boring Brick**_ **by Paramore.**

 **Flapjack: As always, if there's something you'd like to see more or less of, please let us know.**

 **Fluff: Praises and Critiques are welcome.**

 **Flapjack: Other than that, that's about it! We'll see you guys next chapter!**

 **Fluff: Till next time!**


	5. PAWLAPALOOZA? pt 2

**CHAPTER 05: PAWLAPALOOZA!?**

Finnick didn't know what was up with Nick and Judy for, but whatever it was, he liked it. They were more in sync and

there was less fussing. _Finally, some peace and quiet_. Ever since that Hopps girl joined the band, things were going crazy. Don't get him wrong; he likes her, but a chance to relax was nice. They were up in a few minutes, but before they got on stage, he wanted to close his eyes for just a second.

"Finnick, we're up!" Joey called out and his eyes popped open. _Crap._ He snatched his sticks off the table. _Here we go._

 **SCENEBREAK**

When Nick thought of catching his big break, he thought it would be relieving, not so terrifying. He was shaking. _Literally_ shaking. Judy saw him, and gently punched him on the shoulder.

"Hey everything's gonna be alright." She reassured him, though if she were honest, he knew she was just as much reassuring herself. This was the moment he was waiting for, but more importantly, this would be the first time that Nick and the guys catch a break since childhood. They were going to get this right. They _needed_ to get this right.

The last band before them had just finished. Savage had landed them the final spot in the auditions, which would be the best spot or musicians if they were good. Sure it was one thing to be at the beginning and set the standard for all of the other bands that play, but if you were good enough, then the last thing that the judges would hear would be your band, blowing away the rest of the competition.

 _If_ you were good enough.

"Next up is a band called the Sidewalk Citizens." The elderly pangolin that introduced the bands stated before walking off the stage. Nick looked back at the four and nodded and they walked on-stage. Scattered claps could be heard from other bands that had already played. Nick and the others got to their positions and Noah handed Judy a mic. Nick, after hooking up, stepped up to the mic.

"Hey, everyone, we're the Sidewalk Citizens. I'm Nick, the husky on the guitar is Joey, the tiger on the bass is Noah, the fennec on the bass is Finnick, and the bunny over there is Judy. We hail from… everywhere, really, and we'd like to thank you for letting us play for you tonight" _Thank you for letting us play tonight? Real smooth there, Nick._

He could see some bands sitting around in the audience, including the hyena that made fun of Judy earlier. And in the middle was a group of four judges. _Why is it always four judges?_ He thought. One of them, a porcupine with a British accent spoke.

"Well, thank you for that introduction. Now, if you don't mind telling us what you'll be singing?"

Nick cleared his throat, and looked around the room one more time to see Lily and Katie off to the side, egging him on. Shaking his head, he spoke, "Right. We're gonna be playing an original of ours, titled 'Irresistible'. We hope you enjoy it." And with that he turned to Finnick, who tapped a beat. Joey switched to a keyboard and plucked out some notes in the sound of trumpets, then looped it. Nick tapped his foot for two measures, then lifted his mouth to the mic.

" _Coming in unannounced, drag my nails on the tile. I just followed your scent, you can just follow my smile. All of your flaws are aligned with this mood of mine. Cutting me to the bone, nothing left to leave behind"_ he started to lose himself in the music as Noah and Joey joined in.

 _You ought to keep me concealed just like I was a weapon. I didn't come for a fight but I will fight till the end. And this one might be a battle, might not turn out okay. You know you look so Seattle, but you feel so LA."_ Then he heard Judy join in

" _Eeh eeh eh eh eh_ _._ _Eeh eeh eh eh eh."_ Then she cut off while he continued. _"And I love the way you hurt me."_ He swung his guitar forward and the kick sounded.

" _It's Irresistible."_ He strummed downward and saw heads nodding to the beat. _"Ooh ooh oh oh oh ho yeah_ _."_ Judy joined in with a harmony _"_ _Ooh ooh oh oh oh ho yeah. I love the way, I love the way, I love the way you hurt me baby. I love the way, I love the way, I love the way you hurt me baby."_ He paused as Judy sauntered forward to sing the next lyrics.

" _I'm gonna get you to burst just like you were a bubble" and Nick replied._

" _Frame me up on your walls, to keep me out of trouble"_

" _Like a moth getting trapped in the light by fixation"_

" _Truly free, love it baby, I'm talking no inflation"_ then together, Judy harmonizing.

" _Too many war wounds and not enough wars. Too few rounds in the ring and not enough settled scores."_

" _Too many sharks and not enough blood in the waves."_ Judy sang and Nick replied once more.

" _You know I give my lover a four letter name"_

" _Eeh eeh eh eh eh_ _._ _Eeh eeh eh eh eh. And I love the way you hurt me."_ As the beat sounded again, Nick looked around. The crowd was getting into the beat, now. _"It's Irresistible."_ They all played again and Nick could hear voices joining in. _"Ooh ooh oh oh oh ho yeah_ _."_ The kick sounded again. _"Ooh ooh oh oh oh ho yeah_ _._ _I love the way, I love the way, I love the way you hurt me baby. I love the way, I love the way, I love the way you hurt me baby."_ Suddenly the instruments cut off, and it was just the drums as Judy sang.

" _You're second hand smoke_ _._ _You're second hand smoke_ _._ _I breath you in, but honey I don't know_ _._ _What you're doing to me_ _._ _Mon Cheri, but the truth catches up with us eventually."_ She sang as people clapped, then Nick pulled the mic off the stand as Joey and Noah joined Finnick again.

" _Tryna say live, live and let live_ _._ _I'm no good good, admit to this_ _._ _Second is yours, mi amour_ _._ _I'm coming for you, and I'm making war."_ He walked back to his spot and placed the mic back on the stand and swung his guitar forward.

" _I still love the way I hurt you,"_ Sang as she looked at Nick and he smirked as the kick sounded.

" _It's irresistible,"_ Nick sang as Judy did some vocal improvisation _._ _"Ooh ooh oh oh oh ho yeah_ _."_ The kick sounded for the last time. _"Ooh ooh oh oh oh ho yeah_ _._ _I love the way, I love the way, I love the way you hurt me baby. I love the way, I love the way, I love the way you hurt me baby."_ And the instruments stopped as Nick, Joey and Noah vocalized.

" _Eeh eeh eh eh eh_ _._ _Eeh eeh eh eh eh."_ And they stepped away from the mics…

And the room erupted in clapping and whooping and hollering. Nick hadn't noticed during the performance, but the stands were now filled with all of the other bands who must have decided to come watch. He looked back at the others, all with huge smiles on their faces. He was exhausted and sweaty, but he was also relieved. They had not only did good. They _killed_ it. They turned to look at the Judges, who were still donning their poker faces. One of the judges, a giraffe, cleared her throat and spoke.

"We'd like to thank you for participating in our auditions. We will inform you on whether you will be playing in the upcoming festival."

For a second, Nick felt like he had been punched in the gut, but then realized that they couldn't make decisions right then-and-there, so he thanked them and they stepped off stage. Jack gave them a nod as they began packing up their instruments and Lily came running to hug Nick.

"You did so good, daddy!" Nick couldn't help but smile. She always knew how to lighten up his day.

"Thanks, sweetheart." He heard a cough behind him and turned to see the giraffe judge standing there. They all looked at her before she stretched her arm out or a pawshake.

" _Technically_ , I'm not supposed to be giving any congratulations to any bands in order to prevent favoritism, but what I saw. What I _heard_ out there was something different. I hadn't seen any musician here that was as much in love with music as you all were. So -off the record- well done. You'll definitely have my vote." Nick smiled and shook her hoof eagerly. She nodded to him and walked away. Nick turned back around to the others, the smile still on his face.

"Well, that's one judge. Three more to go." They all laughed, and he gestured towards the exit. "Come on, let's get home."

 **SCENE BREAK**

 _10:00 p.m. Sidewalk Citizens' room_

"Okay, if a kit is living here, then these living conditions are unacceptable!" Judy exclaimed after tripping over a pile of dirty clothes, earning her a collective laugh from the others.

"See, that's exactly what I mean!" Katie lamented as she regretfully pried herself from Noah's arms to help her. Judy had found out that Nick had met Katie through Noah, her boyfriend. She normally roomed with Noah, but she and Lily had gone camping for the week.

"Well, what do you suggest?" Nick asked.

"I don't know! How about clean up the place?"

"That might not be a bad idea." Jack spoke.

"Oh, not you too."

"She has a good point. You guys are gonna need to maintain your appearance, and the best way to maintain an appearance simply to live that way."

"Okay, well, we aren't superstars yet, so how about we do it tomorrow?" Just as he stated that, there was a knock at the door. Jack got up to check to see who it was. He opened the door, conversed with whoever it was and closed it. He turned around with an open letter in his hand.

"What is it?" Joey asked, and Jack held up ha finger. His grew more somber as he read to himself then closed the letter. Nick knew that look. He'd worn it plenty of times before. It was a look of defeat.

"Go ahead Jack, we can take it." Jack looked around the room, and began.

" _Dear Sidewalk Citizens, regarding your audition this evening, we took it upon ourselves to make a decision. We conveyed said decision to the executive manager of the upcoming festival and he agreed with our decision. This was not a decision we made lightly, and we have decided…"_ The band as well as Katie and Lily began to hang their head in defeat. _"… to allow you to debut on the first night of the festival as well as play on the last."_ As if by magic, their heads shot up, eyes wide. Jack smiled and continued.

" _Normally, we send these letters two days after auditions, but you had performed so well that we had decided to let you know as soon as possible. We have big expectations and high hopes for the five of you. We hope to hear from you again soon. Until then, keeping rocking on. Signed the judge board of the Pawlapalooza audition system."_ By now, the entire room was jumping all over the place. There were screams, howls, guffaws, and a couple tears of joy. Nick looked over at Judy, who looked over.

"Well, I guess we _have_ to clean the room now."

 **A/N: Flapjack: Didn't we just post a chapter?**

 **Fluff: I know, but I** _ **really**_ **wanted to post this one.**

 **Flapjack &Fluff: Hey everyone. Surprise! We decided to go ahead and post this chapter because we felt like we ended the last chapter on a bit of a sad note, so we decided to post this one. We really liked this chapter and we hope that you liked it too. The song that was played at the audition was **_**Irresistible**_ **by Fall Out Boy featuring Demi Lovato. We made Katie Noah's girlfriend because she sounded so much like that character's actual person's girlfriend, plus, we needed to explain how Nick met Katie. Next chapter is gonna be more Katie, Lily and Judy focused, so stay tuned and we'll try to get that out to you as soon as possible.**

 **Flapjack: Hit that fave/follow button!**

 **Fluff: Leave reviews! What'd you like? What'd you maybe not like?**

 **Flapjack: but until next time…**

 **Fluff: We hope you have good lives**


	6. A KIT, A LOVE, AND A REUNION

**A/N:**

 **Flapjack: Okay, so there's a couple of things that we need to clear up or let you know before we let you read this chapter. First things ﬁrst, Pawlapalooza is not our idea. It's NeonJackal's from his Warmbloods ﬁc, which is frickin' AMAZING, so if you haven't read it, you need to go do that. We're also gonna be introducing an anti-interspecies group called Kind With Kind (KWK) in this chapter. KWK is** _ **also**_ **not ours, but a group made by Pulltogether, another AMAZING writer. You're gonna learn a little more about everyone's favorite emotionally constipated fox and his band of misfits in this chapter as well. There's also a little surprise near the end of the chapter for you.**

 **Fluff: Will you just let them read?**

 **Flapjack: [grumbles] Fine.**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 07: A KIT, A LOVE, AND A REUNION**

"I've gotta say, this is a _really_ nice apartment, now that it's clean." Judy stood in the middle of the room, admiring the work they had gotten done the night before. The room was quite spacious with brick walls and a nice wooden tile ﬂoor. She peered out the now-clean windows at the park below.

Judy had managed to get the guys to clean up the apartment, and after washing 10 baskets of laundry, cleaning 7 loads of dishes, and vacuuming all the rooms, the ﬂat was looking _very_ nice. The boys (Jack included), however, were now asleep on the couches. Katie and Lily tittered to themselves at the table and Judy walked over to them.

"So, what do you two like to do on Sundays?"

"Well, Lily and I usually go out with Nick to the central park. But seeing as how he's asleep, would you like to join us?"

Judy beamed at the two "Sure."

* * *

Judy was surprised that within the week that she had moved here that she had never taken a walk through the park before. The park was circular in shape and had a seasonal framer's market inside of it. Everywhere she looked, she could see kids playing, goods being sold, or plants ﬂourishing. She heard a whistle and turned around to see Katie toss an apple to her. She grabbed it and took a bite. It was one of the sweetest apples she had ever tasted, rivaling the ones she ate back at home.

"How is it?" She asked.

"It's just as good as the one's back at home."

"I'd hope so, most of the fruits sold here were either grown in the Deciduous Domain or brought from farm-towns outside the city." Judy took another bite as she and Katie sat down on a nearby bench and watched Lily play with a friend.

"So, you and Noah, huh?"

"You're not against interspecies relationships, are you?" Katie looked over at Judy, a hint of concern in her eyes.

"Oh, No! Not at all!" Judy assured her. And she wasn't. She knew that interspecies relationships were not unheard of, but that doesn't mean that they were widely accepted by society. She personally didn't see what was wrong with it. If you love someone, why should you let species get in the way of that? "I was just wondering how you two met."

Katie sighed in relief for a second. "Sorry, I was just a little concerned. Well, it was actually Joey that put us together. I was in a bad relationship with an abusive boyfriend, but I was afraid of what he would do if I tried to leave. Joey heard about it and told me that he would deal with the problem. Sure enough, my boyfriend called me up two days later apologizing for everything he did and said that I'd never have to see him again. I went to thank Joey, and I asked him what he did. He told me I was better off not knowing and he introduced me to Noah. We didn't start dating immediately because I wasn't ready for another relationship, and he was very patient with me, but we were very close, and I guess that by the time that I was ready for a relationship, we were already in one."

"Oh my god, that is one of the sweetest things I've ever heard! You sound like you two are really happy together."

Katie smiled warmly. "Yeah, we are." Then she shook her head and laughed. "But don't think it was always that way. We've gotten angry with each other plenty of times. There was one time where I couldn't even stand being in the same room as him!" Judy looked confused.

"How did you get through that?"

"Because," Her eyes softened again. "we love each other, and that's more than just some warm fuzzy feeling. It's a commitment to stick with one another through thick and thin."

"Did you ever think about calling it quits?"

"Once." She winced at the memory and looked over at Lily. "If you hadn't noticed, interspecies couples aren't welcomed by everyone. There's this one anti-interspecies group called 'Kind With Kind', or the KWK, who actually trashed Noah's motorcycle once, painting the word 'freak' on it." Judy's brow furrowed.

"It continued to get worse. Certain shops refused to serve us, some ran us out their stores, and some people we called friends spat in our faces." Judy's need for justice was now growing out of control. Who in their right mind does something like that?

"It got so bad that I wondered whether being with Noah was going to hurt him and me more than it was worth it." Katie's gray eyes turned somber as they glazed over.

"So what happened?"

* * *

 _7:00 p.m. Central park picnic grounds. 1 year ago_

The sun was setting on the horizon, leaving a beautiful orange glow on the ground, but Katie's mind was more occupied with the events of the past few days. She and Noah had been thrown out of three restaurants and two stores, and on top of that, Courtney, a bobcat she knew since high school, just up and turned on her, calling her an 'interspecies whore'.

Noah had planned this evening perfectly, using it to take her mind off the problems, but he could see it wasn't working out too well.

"So, are you hungry? I cooked some of that Japanese curry that we had a week ago, but I'm not sure whether I got the spices righ-"

"What are we doing, Noah?" Noah looked at Katie, her eyes distant, almost ghostly.

"We're having dinner." He said, trying to ease the tension.

"I mean what are we doing with our lives." Noah dreaded this question. He went back to unpacking the food from the basket as he replied.

"We're making it through life. We're together, and not everyone likes it. That's not our problem."

"But isn't it?" He looked back up to see that Katie's eyes were now looking at him, tears spilling from them. "I mean, what if it is our problem? Is this relationship really worth it if it means tha-" Noah's paws shot out and grabbed her shoulders.

"No." His eyes were now getting misty as well. "Don't you say that. This relationship is worth it. You are worth it! You will _always_ be worth it!" He pulled her into a tight hug and she sobbed into his shoulder.

"I love you, Katie. I will always love you. And the world can curl up and die if they think that they can do a damn thing about it!" His voice broke as tears began to roll down his own face.

Katie's eyes widened at his proclamation and wrapped her arms around him, still crying.

* * *

"I was the ﬁrst time that I ever heard say he loved me, and it was at that moment that we decided that we would stick together... no matter what." The black panther's eyes glossed over and so did Judy's.

"That's beautiful, Katie." Katie nodded slightly, then shook her head, a smile returning to her face.

"But enough about me. What about you? A beautiful doe-like you probably turns a lot of heads, right?" Judy laughed a bit nervously.

"Heh, not really. I was a pretty lonely kid growing up. I was a cute kit, and then I went through this awkward stage in high school, and I wasn't that popular during that time."

"Well, if it's any consolation, you're a beautiful doe now and you've got a big heart."

"Well, thanks." They sat in silence for a while, until she heard someone off to the side playing a ukulele, singing words that she knew, and she craned her neck to hear.

 _She asked me 'Son, when I grow old_

 _Will you buy me a house of gold?_

 _And when your father turns to stone,_

 _Will you take care of me?_

She got up and listened closer.

"You hear something, Judy?"

"That song. I know it."

"What song?" Then she heard it. "Oh, that? That's one of Nathan's songs. He plays with Nick at Dominic's sometimes."

"Nick knows Nathan!?"

* * *

Nick slowly opened his eyes as sleep ﬁnally purged itself from his system. He lifted himself up, swatting away Joey's hands. He walked to the kitchen counter, grabbed his notebook, and began scribbling.

 _Sometimes quiet is violent_

 _I ﬁnd it hard to hide it. My pride is no longer inside,_

 _It's on my sleeve, My skin will scream_

 _reminding me of who I killed inside my dream_

 _I hate this car that I 'm driving_

 _There's no hiding for me_

 _I'm forced to deal with what I feel_

 _There is no distraction to mask what is real_

 _Nick smiles as writes the next line._

 _I could pull the steering wheel._

And just as Nick ﬁnished, Judy barged inside. She glared around the room before her eyes met Nick's. She stomped over to him and shoved his chest, effectively making him fall into the chair behind him.

"You lied to me."

"About what?"

"You said you didn't know Nathan." _Uh oh. Jig's up._

"I never said that." _Play it cool. Buy some time._

"You never told me that you knew him!"

"Well, I didn't until you told me your brother's name was Nathan." Now everyone else was up.

"What's all the noise about?" Jack lifted himself, rubbing his eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Judy's tone was one of anger, but her face conveyed hurt. _I thought we were getting close._

Nick glanced around the room, and then saw Katie step through the room, mouthing the words 'He's here', then he smirked and looked back at Judy.

"I wanted to surprise you."

"With what?" She questioned, the hurt conveyed in her eyes now evident in her tone. Then she heard Joey speak.

"Oh, hey Nate!"

"Hey, guys. Just thought I'd drop by real quick."

Judy's eyes widened as she heard a voice she hadn't heard in years. She turned around to see a bunny with dark gray fur, clad in jeans and a white v-neck t-shirt.

"Nathan?"

The buck gave a warm smile and motioned to speak.

"Hey there, little sis."

* * *

 **A/N: Flapjack: Aaaaaaaaaand cut!**

 **Fluff: WHATl? You're gonna leave them with that!?**

 **Flapjack: Why not?**

 **Flapjack &Fluff: Hey everyone! We hope you guys liked this chapter. Once again, we bring some more backstory and a cliffhanger for you. This one is a bit shorter, but we ﬁgured that we put everything that we needed to and that there was no reason for us to add more. **

**Flapjack: So, about the lyrics: the verse the mammal was singing at the park was from** _ **House of Gold**_ **by Twenty-One Pilots and the lyrics Nick was writing was from** _ **Car Radio**_ **, also by Twenty-One Pilots. That's pretty much it. The next chapter is gonna come out maybe tomorrow, but most likely the following day.**

 **Also, guest who doesn't want Nathan to be a Mary Sue. This is our last chance to give us some enlightenment on how to improve him. I'd suggest you speak up.**

 **Fluff: But until then, all of you better hit those fave/follow buttons!**

 **Flapjack: give us reviews. We're insecure.**

 **Fluff: And we'll see you next time!**


	7. HERE COMES THE BRIDE PART 01

**Hey, guys, it's just Flapjack signing on today. Fluff had work, and we're still just editing chapters currently, so I just did this one on my own. Anyways, here's another chapter. I hope you guys enjoy it.**

 **To the guest who was concerned with Nathan's character: I tried my best, man. I dumbed down his qualities a bit, but the chapter is still Nathan-Judy centric, and he's a prominent character in this story.**

 **Anyways, here ya go, everybody. For those who arejoinng us for the second time now, we're getting closer to the current chapter, so hang in there.**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 08: HERE COMES THE BRIDE PART 01**

Nathan was nervous. More than that: He was freaking _terrified_. It had been four years since he'd seen his little sister and he was worried she'd be disappointed that he'd not made it as big as he had hoped. Or worse: She'd _pity_ him. But all his fears didn't matter anymore because he was now on the top floor of Nick's apartment.

Nathan had met Nick and the guys one night after being rejected by 4 different labels. They had landed him a spot on Dominic's play list, which was pretty nice, but not where he wanted to stay. Then Nick just up and calls him two days ago, saying that he met his sister and that they should meet up for a little 'Family Reunion'.

So, here he was. He could see Katie and Lily standing outside, their faces filled with anxiety. Then Katie sees Nathan and steps inside, then ducks back out gesturing for him to walk in. As he does, he hears his sister interrogating Nick, her sweet voice laced with hurt.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I wanted to surprise you."

"With what?"

"Oh hey, Nate!"

"Hey, guys. Just thought I'd drop by real quick." He declared and he saw Judy tense up. She slowly turned around, her eyes conveying both shock and confusion.

"Nathan?" Nathan, though maintaining a smile on his lips, was dumbfounded. Who was this bunny? She had Judy's voice, her coat, even her eyes, but she was different. She wasn't that awkward high-school teenager he left at home four years ago. No, she was more mature-looking. More confident. More beautiful. _Oh, sis._ Then he snapped back to reality.

"Hey there, little sis."

There was a moment where silence filled the room as Nathan and Judy stood there. But after a few seconds, he could see anger boiling up inside of her.

"'Hey there, little sis.'?" she questioned. "We don't see or hear from each other for four years, and all you do is say 'hi' calmly!?"

"Sorry." He held up his hands in an attempt to dispel the tension. "I thought tha-"

"You thought what!?" She marched over to him and jabbed him hard in the square of his chest with her finger. "Did you think that I'd be happy and overjoyed at the sight of you?"

"Hey, I said that I was sorry." He defended himself. Bad choice.

"No, sorry doesn't cut it!" He shoved him in the chest, knocking him down onto the couch, then started pacing. "Four years, Nathan! Four years! And did you call, or write a letter, or send a card or anything? No!" She stopped pacing and clamped her eyes, hoping that it would keep her from crying.

It didn't.

"You left me alone." She croaked as tears began to roll down her cheeks. "I needed you, but you just left." There was another moment where no one said anything and the only things that could be heard were Judy's stifled sobs.

Then Nathan got up from the couch and went to wrap his arms around her. Judy tried to resist pulling herself from him, pushing against his chest, but eventually, she collapsed into his chest and began to sob into it. He stroked her ears as he held her.

"You're right, Jude." He spoke calmly. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left you." She continued to cry into his chest as the guys got up and left to give them some space. Nick followed them, placing a paw on Nathan's shoulder before walking out.

* * *

Judy felt horrible. Not only because she had cried her eyes dry into Nathan's chest, effectively leaving her eyes raw and sore, but also because she hadn't seen her older brother in years and the first thing she did when she saw him was yell at him.

"Here ya go: One mango peach smoothie." Judy turned to see Nathan with two smoothies in his hand. After her crying fit, Nathan had decided to take her out to the park, and though she had already been that day, she didn't mind coming back. "It's probably the best flavor... though honestly, they're all pretty good."

"Thanks." She took it in her paw. "And sorry." He looked at her funny.

"For what?"

"For being angry with you."

"Don't be sorry. It wasn't right for me to just leave."

"But I didn't need to yell at you."

"Eh, we're siblings. We're not always gonna get along." Judy giggle a bit and took a sip from her cup.

"So, how'd you meet Nick?"

"Well, we kinda connected after realizing that we both left our houses and our families behind without saying goodbye."

"Wait, Nick left his family on bad terms?"

"Yeah. It was after his girlfriend Aurora…" Nathan hesitated, and Judy could see that he was questioning whether or not it would be appropriate to say anything about Aurora."

"I know. Nick told me." Nathan nodded, then cleared his throat before continuing.

"Right… Well, it was a few days after she died that he decided to just up and leave. His parents tried to get him to stay, but he was too far gone to listen to them, so they told the guys to go with him. He was 18 at the time, so I guess that he hasn't seen his family in… 6 years." Judy's eyes widened. It had been six years since Nick had seen his family. They seemed like some kind of missing memory of his. He had no pictures, no stories, nothing. He never even talked about them. What Judy knew was only from what she heard from the guys. "Nick told me about that first year on his own: Waking up each night from nightmares, desperately looking for a job so he could take care of Lily, trying to move on for Aurora. One day, he met this otter named Emmitt that owned a flower shop, and they gave him a job as a delivery boy. Olivia, Emmitt's wife, began talking with Nick, trying to help him with his anger. She told him that the best way to cope with it was to find an outlet to channel his emotions.

"One night, after having another nightmare about Aurora, he got up, went to his desk, pulled out a beat-up vinyl notebook and began writing. By the end of the night, he had written a song that he titled _Trading Mistakes_ , a tribute to Aurora. It was the first song he ever wrote. After that, he began writing more songs, channeling his emotions into them, and he began to alleviate his anger a bit."

"I'm still angry." Judy turned around to see Nick walking up to them. "I've forgiven the mammal that ran over her and the people who did nothing to help her, but it doesn't stop it from hurting as much as it does. Every day, I look at Lily and I'm reminded that she'll never get to meet her mother, and that kills me."

"Nick." Judy was tearing up again. How she even still had the ability to cry after everything was beyond her.

"I'll probably be that happy fox that I used to be before all of it, but I also know that I'm where I am now because of everything that happened. I made friends at the ZPD, I began to write my own music, I met the two of you, and now, I'm gonna get a chance to do what I love." Nick began to smile. "Aurora is in a better place now, and I know that if she were here, she'd want me to keep moving."

Nick then felt tiny grey paws wrap around him as he fell backward. Judy had jumped up from her seat and pounced on him, wrapping around him in a hug that he didn't see coming, but he accepted gratefully.

"Are all you bunnies this emotional?" He quipped and Nathan Shrugged.

"I'm sorry, Nick." She spoke, his voice slightly muffled by his shoulder. "You didn't deserve any of that."

"Maybe I didn't." He pulled her away and they got up. "But it happened, and there's no changing the past. Besides, from itcame some pretty amazing things." He smiled as he gestured down the walkway. "Let's not dwell too long in the past. Come on, we're all going out to dinner."

* * *

 _ **4:30 p.m. Otterton's flower shop, 10 days later**_

 _I dreamt of something terrifying_

 _Cause this time, there's no sound to hide behind._

Nick continued to write as he sat on the counter of the shop. He had been helping Mrs. Otterton around the shop for the past week or so since Mr. Otterton had left to pay a visit to his friend up in Gnu York. However, a part of him was worried. Emmitt had been gone for a while now, and there were rumors of predators going missing. His thoughts were interrupted by a quick bop on his snout. He yelped and jumped off the counter, seeing Olivia standing there sporting Nick's smirk and a rolled up newspaper in one hand.

"Sitting around on the job, Nick? You know better than that." Nick laughed a bit before resuming his job of pruning the rose bushes. "So, I heard that you were going to be playing at the upcoming music festival."

"Yeah, we are. But how did you-"

"Oh please, Nick. I don't live under a rock. I saw the flyers up around the town. You guys must've _really_ made an impression on the judges if they're letting you play the first night." Nick chuckled nervously as he continued pruning.

"Yeah, we've gained a lot of publicity lately."

"Well, that's good to hear. I hope you remember to pay Emmitt and I visits after you become a superstar."

"But of course." Nick assured her, then thought about his growing suspicions earlier. "Olivia?"

"Hmm?"

"Have you heard from Emmitt lately?"

"Um, No actually." She turned to Nick, looking concerned. "Why do ask?"

"Well, it's just… you know about the rumors, right?" He saw Olivia's brow furrow a bit.

"… Yes."

"I was just getting a bit concerned, seeing as how he's been gone for a while now."

"I know." She set down the flowers she was tending to and looked over at him. "I've been getting a bit worried myself." But before she could continue, the doorbell rang as they saw a grey bunny in a pink plaid shirt walk in. "Judy, It's good to see you again!" She went over to give Judy a hug.

"It's good to see you, too, Mrs. Otterton!"

"Please, just Olivia will do." Olivia told her. Nick had introduced Judy to Olivia a couple of days ago and they connected almost immediately. "So, I heard that you and Nick have been pretty busy lately."

"Yeah, we have. Speaking of which." Judy turned to Nick. "Nick, I met someone today. She says she knows you." Judy opened the door and four-foot arctic shrew with a beehive hairdo walked in.

"Nicky!" the shrew squealed in her Bronx accent. "It's been so long!"

"Fru!?" Nick looked a bit shocked to see Fru Fru standing there next to Judy. He hadn't seen the shrew in years.

"Yeah! Oh, Nicky, I met Judy at the Mousy's Department store downtown this morning, and she was just the biggest sweetheart I'd ever met!"

"We spent the day together."

"Oh." Nick spoke without thinking.

"To be honest, I was out looking for you, but then I met Judy and we got a bit distracted."

"You were looking for me?"

"Yeah, daddy and I wanted to invite you to my wedding!"

"Wedding!? You're Father!?"


	8. HERE COMES THE BRIDE PART 02

**CHAPTER 09: HERE COMES THE BRIDE PART 02**

"Wedding!? You're Father!?"

"Yeah, Silly! I'm getting married!" Fru was overjoyed. Or maybe, that was just her bubbly personality. Sometimes, it was hard to tell the difference.

"When is it?"

"Tonight!"

"Tonight!?" Nick was glad he wasn't pruning the bush, lest he accidently snip off an entire section of flowers. This was not the first time Fru had pulled something like this on him, but anything concerning her father meant him preparing for something.

"Why does your father want me there?"

"It's not just him, Nicky! I want you there, too!" Nick smiled at her. Not many people get away with calling him Nicky, but he'd known Fru since they were children, so he didn't mind. "But he has some big news and he wants you to be there to hear it."

"Oh?"

"So, please tell me you're coming!" Nick crossed his arms and began rubbing his chin in feigned contemplation.

"Hmmmmm… Okay. We'll be there."

"Great!" The Shrew went up and hugged him before letting go and heading out the door. "I'll have Kevin pick you up at six thirty! See ya soon!"

"Bye!" Judy waved enthusiastically, then turned to smirk at Nick. "So, _Nicky_ , should we get going?" Nick turned to Olivia for confirmation, who motioned with her hands for them to get going.

"Go on! You two kids have fun! I'm meeting up with a friend in an hour anyway." And with that Nick set his pruners down and walked over to Judy and held his hands out.

"May I take your bags, milady?" He asked.

"Oh, such a gentleman." She quipped as she handed him her bags and they walked out of the shop.

* * *

 _ **6:25 p.m. Sidewalk Citizens' floor**_

Judy did a quick 360 at her mirror so she could take one last look at the dress that she bought earlier that day. The dress was a dark blue with a few white accents here and there. The dress hugged her body well and the pleated skirt flowed well but wasn't poofy. All in all, she loved it. As she stepped out of her room and entered the main one, the guys all immediately stood up in surprise, a collective shocked expression on their faces.

"What?"

"You look… amazing, Judy." Joey stated, and Judy colored a bit at the compliment.

"Oh, stop it." She looked around in search of the red fox accompanying her to the wedding, then huffed in frustration when she didn't see him. "Where's Nick? We're supposed to get going soon."

"I'm in here!" She heard Nick call from his room. She walked in and was shocked at what she saw. Nick was standing over at his mirror… in a suit. It was a black suit that fitted his form quite well. He was wearing a white shirt and a champagne colored bow tie wrapped around his neck.

"Very nice, Slick." She stated as she turned him around to adjust his tie. He smirked and looked her up and down.

"You don't look too bad yourself, Carrots." He told her and then turned around quickly and brought back a white rose and pinned it to her dress "A gift, milady, from the Otterton family."

"Why, thank you, kind sir." She replied, and he smirked, then held out his arm.

"Shall we?" She smiled genuinely and looped her arm through his."

"Yes, we shall."

* * *

 _ **8:00 p.m. Big Residence**_

Nick was never really a big fan of weddings. They were big, fluffy family things that he just never really enjoyed. But this time, he was happy. He watched as his childhood friend said her vows and achieved her lifelong goal of finding true love. It was poetic, in a way. And now, they were out in the lit garden holding the reception. Music was playing, Judy was dancing with a shrew, Fru was dancing with her husband, everyone was having a good time. However, Nick hadn't seen Mr. Big at all at the reception. He wanted Nick here, and as much as Nick wanted to let it be, it kept gnawing at him.

 _Why did he want me here? What was so important that I had to be here?_

"Nicholas." He heard a heavy Italian accent and turned around to see Mr. big standing behind him with a cane.

"Mr. Big." He acknowledged the shrew and bent down to kiss his ring, but before he could, he saw Mr. Big shaking his head and holding out his paw.

"There's no need for that. Just a pawshake will do." Nick was surprised, seeing as how Mr. Big was one of the biggest crime bosses in Zootopia, yet he held out his paw as if Nick were his equal. Nick shook it and they stood there together, watching the reception carry out. "How have you been?"

"Very good, sir. My life has taken quite a turn for the better as of late."

"Good, good. Your family would be proud." Nick's brow furrowed at the mention of his family.

"Have you been keeping in touch with them?"

"Yes. They've been holding me accountable as usual."

Nick couldn't help but smile. "That's good to hear."

"That is, as a matter of fact, the reason you're here." Nick rose an eyebrow as he felt Mr. Big's paw press against his back as they walked forward.

* * *

The dancing had settled down and everyone was taking their seats as Nick and Mr. Big entered the room, and now everyone was eating and enjoying small conversation. After a few more moments, Judy saw Nick stand up and tap the side of his wine glass with his fork, to which everyone turned to look at him.

"Ladies and Gentlemammals, some of you may not remember me, but perhaps you remember a fox couple that came up alongside the Big family, serving as Mr. Big's conscience in his dealings. And perhaps you remember their child who served as Fru Fru's best friend during her younger years. Well, I was that child, and I knew Fru when she was just a tiny little thing… Well, tinier than she is now." A couple of chuckles could be heard around the garden. "and with your permission, I would like to say a few things to her tonight.

"Fru, you were… crazy back when we were kids. I remember how you and I got into all kinds of trouble and I distinctly remember how I would take the blame for all of it." More laughs from the group. "But I also remember how you would tell our parents about how _you_ were the one who came up with the pranks that we did. You've always looked out for others, often forsaking your own happiness for theirs. You may a little mammal, but you have a big heart." Fru Fru smiled as a tear rolled down her cheek. "But now, you get a happy ending. You met Tony there, and now you two get to spend the rest of your lives together. That love is something that I hope you two cherish forever. So, in short terms, this humble fox wishes you two a long, loving marriage and that the Wilde family will always be around if you ever need us." The group began clapping, then Nick stepped to the side and held out his paw, which Mr. Big took to pull himself up.

"If you would indulge an old man in his ramblings I have a few things to add." The garden fell silent as Mr. Big looked over at Nick, who nodded to him. "Fru Fru, my youngest child and my only daughter, the love of my life, my pride and joy. You have always been there for your father, even though you didn't agree with his lifestyle, and over the past few years, I had to come to terms with the reality that you couldn't stay my little girl forever." Fru was tearing up some more. "I was worried about Tony at first. I didn't want you going down the same road that I took, but then I realized that he was leaving my organization to become a teacher, and I knew that you would be safe with him.

"I was going over, in my mind, what I could possibly give you as a gift. You know that I would give you the world if I could, but I know that there is one thing that you have always wanted. Which brings me to the reason Nick is standing here with me." Murmurs could be heard as the guests tried to guess at what Mr. Big was talking about. "Fru Fru, all your life, the one thing that you told me every birthday, every Christmas, every year, was that one day, all of this" He gestured around the garden. "Would end one day, and every year, I tried to. But this year, on this day, I… We" He placed his hand on Nick's shoulder. "want to give you the one thing you have always wanted." Fru's eyes widened as she realized what her father was talking about.

"My dear daughter, tonight, your father is a criminal no more."

There were gasps and more murmuring around in the garden. Koslov, a polar bear, and Mr. Big's right-hand-man began to smile. "Starting tonight, there will be no more dealings, no more shady business partners, and no more gang activity." Fru Fru got out of her seat and ran up and gave her father a tight hug, which he smiled and returned. The garden erupted in clapping and cheers, then Fru opened her eyes and looked at Nick.

"So, how are you involved with this?"

"Your father is going to be supporting my band as a symbol of thanks to my family." She laughed and hugged him. "But the reason he's leaving the criminal underworld is because of you, Fru." He hugged her back as the clapping silenced, and Mr. Big spoke up.

"This calls for a celebration! Judy, Nick, would you do us the favor of playing for us?" Nick looked over at Judy, who was shocked and slightly nervous.

"Uuuuhhhh, sure." They both responded. Nick took off his suit top and rolled up his sleeves and walked over to the band, who handed him a guitar that he realized was his father's. Judy walked up behind him.

"Hey." He turned around after slipping the strap over his neck. "What are we playing?" He began running through a couple of songs that they could possibly play before settling on one.

"Do you know your brother's song _Like I'm Gonna Lose You_?"

Judy smirked. "I helped him write it." The Nick nodded as he pulled the mic up to his muzzle.

"This is a song called _Like I'm Gonna Lose You_. It's a reminder that we're not promised tomorrow, so we should love each other as much as we can today." He then began plucking notes on the guitar as Judy began singing.

" _I found myself dreaming in silver and gold, like a scene from a movie that every broken heart knows. We were walking on moonlight, and you pulled me close. Split second and you disappeared and then I was all alone. I woke up in tears with you by my side. A breath of relief and I realized 'No, we're not promised tomorrow'."_ Then Nick switched to strumming and he heard the band playing behind him.

" _So I'm gonna love you like I'm gonna lose you, and I'm gonna hold you like I'm saying goodbye. Wherever we're standing, I won't take you for granted, 'Cause we'll never know when, when we'll run out of time. So I'm gonna love you like I'm gonna lose you. I'm gonna love you like I'm gonna lose you."_ Nick smiled as he switched to picking with his claws and stepped up to the mic.

" _In the blink of an eye, just a whisper of smoke, you could lose everything. The truth is you never know. So I'll kiss you longer baby, any chance that I get. I'll make the most of the minutes and love with no regrets. Let's take our time to say what we want. Here's what we got before it's all gone, 'Cause no, we're not promised tomorrow."_ Then he switched to a harmony as Judy joined back in.

" _So I'm gonna love you like I'm gonna lose you, and I'm gonna hold you like I'm saying goodbye. Wherever we're standing, I won't take you for granted, 'Cause we'll never know when, when we'll run out of time. So I'm gonna love you like I'm gonna lose you. I'm gonna love you like I'm gonna lose you."_ Then Nick turned to the electric guitarist as he began soloing a bit before he turned back to the front as Judy began singing again.

" _So I'm gonna love you,"_

" _Ohhh."_

" _like I'm gonna lose you"_

" _Like I'm gonna lose you"_ Nick echoed.

" _And I'm gonna hold you like I'm saying goodbye"_ Then they began harmonizing together. _"Wherever we're standing, I won't take you for granted, 'Cause we'll never know when, when we'll run out of time. So I'm gonna love you like I'm gonna lose you. I'm gonna love you like I'm gonna lose you."_

As they finished, the garden erupted in claps and Fru and Mr. Big rose their glasses to them. Nick and Judy bowed as they smiled and thought.

 _It can only go uphill from here._

* * *

 _This just in: Mayor Leodore Lionheart arrested for the kidnapping of 16 predators around Zootopia. Mayor Lionheart pleads innocence, stating that "They were seemingly going savage, and that he caged them to protect the city." The 16 mammals were seemingly in a savage mental state, not responding to physical or verbal interaction._

* * *

 **A/N: Fluff: Hey, guys, It's Flapjack by myself again. Fluff came down with a pretty serious cold, so I'm forcing her to rest her head for a while. So, here's another chapter for you guys. We've passed the halfway marker on our little journey back to our current chapter, so hang on a little longer. Anyway, we hope that this chapter wasn't too bad, and we hope you guys continue to read.**

 **TeeraFlaire and DK: Thanks for reading guys. We really appreciate it. We are working on the grammar errors. We mostly post this stuff via phone.**

 **Pixelpaladin: Go ahead and do it anyway man! We orignially got this idea because we were reading NeonJackal's fic _Warmbloods._**

 **As always, we hope you guys stay happy and healthy wherever you are. We'll see ya next time.**


	9. ARE YOU AFRAID OF ME?

**CHAPTER 09: ARE YOU AFRAID OF ME?**

 _ **11:00 a.m. En route to Otterton's Flower Shop, 3 days later**_

Nick walked along the sidewalk, whistling to himself. The last few days had been good. He watched his childhood friend get married, he helped co-write a song with Nathan, and he was almost finished with his own song. On top of that, Jack had signed the band up for some kind of party being hosted for all the acts in the upcoming music festival. Nothing could bring him down.

Or at least that's what he thought before he made it to the flower shop.

Two Police officers, whom Nick made out to be Officers Fangmeyer and Grizzoli, were walking out of the shop, followed by a grief-stricken Olivia Otterton. He hurried up the pace to catch up to them.

"Hey, what's going on here?" Nick questioned, but Fangmeyer and Grizzoli only looked at him, sympathy in their eyes, then got into the squad car. Olivia, a sorrowful look in her eyes, placed a paw on Nick's shoulder.

"It's Emmittt, Nick." Nick's brow furrowed.

"What's wrong?"

"They found him, with the other 16 mammals that went missing." Nick's eyes widened at the sound of his underlying suspicions coming true. He had desperately hoped that he was wrong.

"But, you said that he had gone to see a friend." Nick asked, hoping that this was all just some cruel joke.

"According to the officers, he never made it out." Olivia motioned for Nick to follow her as she got into the squad car.

"Well, then it's a good thing that we found him right?" Then Olivia hung her head in sorrow. _Why does she look so sad?_

"They said that he isn't the same, anymore, that something's wrong with him." Olivia spoke, her voice not much louder than a whisper. "The officers are taking me to see him now. Can-can you come with me, dear? I don't know if I can do this alone."

Nick was silent, but he nodded as he placed his arm around her shoulder as they got into the squad car and sped off to the Zootopia General Hospital.

* * *

 _ **11:00 a.m. Dominic's**_

Judy sat at the counter, scrolling through her phone. She was waiting for Clawhauser at Dominic's so they could spend some time together seeing as how she hadn't seen much of him since she started playing with the guys. When she had called him, though, he sounded sad and her mind couln't help but wonder why it was. Just as she began to ponder on the observation, however, She heard the door creak open as Ben stepped in. She smiled and ran over to him, wrapping her arms as far as she could around him.

"It's good to see you Benji!" She exclaimed and she felt Ben's arms slowly wrap around her, but he remained silent. After they let go of each other she could see, by the look on his face, that something was wrong, but she wasn't sure whether it was appropriate to ask about it. "Sorry I haven't talked to you in a while. I've been swamped in things to do!"

Again, Clawhauser nodded to affirm that he was listening, but made no sound. They sat there in silence for a while before she piped up again.

"Hey, Benji, is something wrong?" Benjamin looked over at her and sighed deeply.

"Sorry, Judy. There's just been some trouble at work is all."

"What's going on?"

"Well," Clawhuaser began. "You're still fairly new to the city, so you probably haven't heard, but there was a rumor about mammals, specifically predators, going missing. And yesterday, we received an anonymous tip that Mayor Lionheart had a piece of land out near the bayside that he kept private. We attained a search warrant and found that he was harboring 16 missing mammals." Judy's eyes widened.

"That's terrible! Who does something like that."

"That's not all." Judy calmed down and let Clawhauser proceed. "When we arrested Mayor Lionheart, he pleaded his innocence. He said that they had 'gone savage' and that he was trying to protect the public. And when we took another look at the kidnapped mammals, we realized that they _had_ gone savage." Judy's brow furrowed. _That can happen?_

"The doctors don't know for certain what's causing it, but since it seems that only predators are going savage, they're theorizing that it might be a component in our DNA that's causing us to _revert_ back to our savage ways."

Judy's eyes widened even further.

 _Could that be possible?_

* * *

Nick and Olivia stepped out into the parking lot, looking up at the General Hospital, then followed the officers inside. From there, they were directed to an elevator, which took them to the fifth floor: The psych ward. They walked silently down the hall, Nick's arm never leaving Olivia's shoulders. They entered a room with blacked out glass pane. Grizzoli stood watch outside the door and Fangmeyer stood next to a control panel.

"Are you two ready?" Olivia looked over at Nick, and though she was afraid of what she was going to see, she looked back at the screen and nodded. Nick turned his head towards Fangmeyer and answered.

"Go ahead." Fangmeyer flipped a switch and the blacked out glass then cleared up, and both Nick and Olivia quaked at what they saw.

It was Emmitt.

Or what they thought was Emmitt. He was writhing and fighting against the restraints on the bed that they locked him. His movements were violent and erratic, his fur disheveled and matted, his iris covered up by the black of his pupils. Olivia began to quiver as tears rolled down her cheeks and Nick pulled her in close.

"That's not my Emmitt."

* * *

 _ **3:00 p.m. Sidewalk Citizens floor**_

Judy had gotten back to the main room, closed the door behind her, and slid down to the floor. How had today's mood changed so quickly? One moment, she was in the best mood of her life. The next, she felt like she was going to throw up.

"You okay, cottontail?" She heard Finnick ask. She looked up to see the other band members staring at her. She stood up and dusted off her pants.

"Yeah, I guess I'm alright?" She sat down at the table and looked at the guys again. This time, she realized that they didn't look so happy either. "What's wrong?"

Joey flipped on the TV, which showed footage of what she now knew to be the savage mammals being treated at the General Hospital. Her eyes widened after seeing it with her own eyes.

"They're saying that the animals went savage." Joey stated, his expression remaining the same.

"Yeah, Clawhauser told me about it."

"So what does this mean?" Judy hadn't thought about that. What _did_ this mean? She didn't want to give any wrong answers, so she said exactly what she knew.

Nothing.

* * *

 _ **4:00 p.m. Otterton's Flower Shop**_

Nick and Olivia sat silently in the flower shop, taking in everything that they had seen that afternoon. Olivia was shocked and saddened to see her Emmitt reduced to a snarling monster, but she also knew that the doctors were doing everything to fix things, and she had faith in them.

Nick, however, was a stranger to concepts such as faith and hope. His mind was wrapped around the idea that his old friend may never be the same again, and that frightened him. But before his mind could torture him further, he heard the doorbells jingle as they opened and Jack stepped in.

"How'd you-"

"Finnick told me that you were here." Jack stated. "Come on, we're gonna be late as is and you need to dress in something more appropriate." Nick's brow furrowed.

"Listen, Jack, I know that you worked hard to get us where we are now, but I don't think I ca-"

"Go, Nick." He turned to see Olivia's paw on his shoulder, a sympathetic smile on her face. "I'll be fine here."

Nick wanted to protest, but past experiences revealed to him that even if he did, she would find a way to get him to go. He hugged her tightly and walked out of the door.

Jack began to walk out of the door, but turned to look at Olivia, who mouthed 'Take care of him'. He nodded and stepped through the door, following Nick back to the apartment.

* * *

 _ **4:30 p.m. Sidewalk Citizens floor**_

Just as Nick stepped through the door, he felt arms wrap around him and he staggered back. He looked down to see Judy there, a sorrowful look on her face.

"I'm so sorry, Nick."

"For what?"

"I met with Clawhauser. He told me about Emmitt." She hugged tighter and pondered whether to tell him what Clawhauser said the doctors were theorizing. She pulled away and saw Nick's distant expression and opted not to. She watched as Nick shook his head from his thoughts and came back to reality. He grabbed a blue plaid sport coat and tossed over his graphic tee.

"Come on, guys. Maybe tonight can help us take our minds off of things for a while."

* * *

 _ **6:30 Jungle gym Concert Hall**_

Tonight was _not_ helping him take his mind off of things. Finnick was up mixing with the DJ, Joey went off to flirt with some cheetah and Noah was break-dancing with an old school hip-hop band called Run ZMC. Nick originally thought about dancing, but decided not to. So, he opted to do one thing he knew would help him take his mind off of things: take a few shots.

Judy wasn't accustomed to parties, so this was a bit overwhelming to her. She decided that she would just tag along with Nick, though she wasn't really in the mood to drink. Nick pulled out two shot glasses and poured into both of them. He slid one to her.

"Care to have a drink with me?"

"And suffer the ramifications like last time?" Judy smirked at him, and he donned his own lopsided smile. She looked at the glass for the second, then downed its contents.

One hour later, and they had gone through an entire bottle. They were laughing, telling embarrassing stories and facts to each other.

"Really!? Foxes actually do that!?" Judy spoke through a fit of giggles. She wasn't quite drunk, but she was buzzed enough that she had pretty much forgotten all about the events of earlier today.

"Yeah. We just dive… headfirst into the snow." He watched as Judy continued to laugh and clutch at her sides. "Alright, alright, I's your turn now."

She fought to quell her fits so she could speak. "I'm not sure there's anything else." Then she remembered. "Well, I can play piano." Nick's eyebrows rose.

"Oh really? Well, that isn't funny nor embarrassing, but I'm interested nonetheless."

"forget it, Nick. Ou don't wanna hear about it." She heard Nick scoot closer, then place his elbows on the counter, resting his head on his hands. She tried to ignore him for a while, but eventually gave in.

"My grandma taught me." She ran her finger around the brim of the glass. "While Nathan taught me guitar, my grandma took notice of my talent and began teaching my piano. She told me music could speak." She smiled at the memory of grandma Sophie. "It could tell stories, teach lessons, and confess love. She considered music a living, breathing thing. She was the sweetest bunny in the world" Then her face fell. "Well, she was until she died."

Nick's ears fell back against his head. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"No, it's alright, you didn't know."

"So, why don't you play anymore?" Nick watched Judy as she searched for a reason.

"I don't really know, why. I guess I just stopped."

"Well, that just won't do." Nick grabbed Judy's paw and began led her away from the bar.

"Where are we going?" Judy asked as she tried to pull away.

"Just trust me." Nick stated without turning around. Eventually, they made it to a door being guarded by a huge black bear. Nick showed him the badge that they were given at admission, and the bear stepped to the side and opened the door. The two had just transitioned from loud sounds and flashy strobe lights to a quieter room and warm light. Judy gazed in awe at the room.

"What is this?"

"It's a music room." Nick continued to lead her by the paw as she looks around the room. She sees different mammals, including several famous ones, playing instruments here and there. He leads her to the middle of a room and she then realizes what he wants her to do.

Nick walks up to the piano in the middle of the room and pulls off the covers. Judy's eyes widened. It was a beautiful black grand piano. She walked up and glided her hand over the keys.

"Play it." She turned to look at Nick, who was now sitting on a chair he pulled up next to the music bench. Judy laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her neck.

"I haven't played in years, Nick. I don't know if I can-"

"Trust me. As corny as it sounds, music is like riding a bike." He patted the bench cushion and she, reluctantly, sat down. She placed her fingers lightly on the keys and began to pluck out the beginning of _Clair de Lune_. After about one painstakingly timid measure, she hit a wrong note and pulled her paws away from the keys.

"See, I can't do this." Nick held up a paw and she quieted herself.

"Try again." She placed her fingers on the piano again, but Nick placed his fingers over hers, surprising her as she looked up at him. "This time, remember what your grandmother said: It's more than just a song. It's a story." He helped her along, until she became more confident. He lifted his fingers off of hers and sat back sown next to her. She began to play more fluidly, her fingers deftly hitting the keys with the skill of a practiced professional. Nick saw her eyes close as she let herself be consumed by the music, and for a quick second, he felt a twang in his heart, but he shook it off. He gazed around the room, and he saw artists, including Elkton John, Gazelle and Paul McCatney, all abandon their instruments as they walked over to listen to Judy play. He smiled and turned back to her. This bunny was truly something else. She managed to get him to open up to her, to start believing in things again… to hope again. _Judy, you truly are one special bunny_.

As Judy played that last of the notes, she opened her eyes and felt her fingers on the keys. They felt so light and fragile, as if they would break if she pressed any further. She heard clapping and turned around to see that the mammals in the room all around her. She looks at Nick with as much warmth as physically possible.

"Thanks for making me do this." Nick smiled and shook his head.

"Nah, I didn't make you do anything. Sure, I nudged you in the right direction, but you made the decision all by yourself." He then heard the sound of what every star despises: the sound of reporters entering the room.

They turned around to see them filing into the room, looking for the 'next big scoop'. The reporters caught sight of Nick and Judy and began climbing over each other to reach the two. By the time they made it over, the two were swamped in questions. Nick and Judy exasperatedly tried to answer whatever was asked.

"Nick, how does it feel to go from having nothing to suddenly getting the chance to have it all?"

"It's kinda overwhelming, honestly."

"Judy, how does it feel to be consumed by all of this so quickly."

"I guess it's like Nick said: overwhelming."

The reporters continued with their questions, but Nick began to realize that they were taking it towards the direction of the savage predator case. As much as Nick did his best to rope the interview back towards the upcoming festival, he knew that Judy wasn't nearly as used to crazy situations. And in the midst of all of the questions, one could be heard over all of them.

"What is going on with predators?" Judy was confused how this interview had taken such a crazy turn.

"I'm not quite sure how that has to deal with us?"

"You're the only prey in the band, is that correct?"

"Y-yes?" She stuttered, obviously not liking where it was going. Neither did Nick.

"We were wondering, if you had any insight as to why these predators were going 'savage'." Judy pondered whether _now_ was the time to use the information Clawhauser gave her. _Maybe, if I do, they'll leave us alone._

"Well, from what I had heard, the doctors are saying that it _might_ have something to do… with their DNA." Nick's brow furrowed in confusion. _What?_

"Ms. Hopps, would you care to explain?"

"Um, yes. What I mean is: thousands of years ago, um, predators used to survive through their… a-aggressive hunting instincts." Nick's mind brought him back to the ranger scout incident, and his confusion was now being replaced by disbelief and… anger. "And for whatever reason, scientists believe that they may be reverting back to their savage, a-and primitive ways."

Judy was beginning to get uncomfortable as the reporters continued to press her for more answers, but she saw Jack enter the room and march over to them.

"Alright. That's enough. No more questions, thank you very much." He stated and pulled them out of the circle. "Sorry abo that guys." He then heard his phone buzz and he walked away from the two to answer it.

Nick stood there and watch Judy take a deep breath.

"Wow, that was intense. I didn't even get to talk about how we met or-"

"Oh, I think you said plenty." Nick huffed out, a bitterness in his tone.

"What do you mean?" _She honestly doesn't know?_

"'It might have something to do with their DNA'? That 'these predators may be reverting back to their primitive savage ways'? Are you serious?" Nick made no attempt to hide the disappointment on his face as he repeated what she said, and she held up her hands in defense.

"I was just stating what the doctors were theorizing."

"Yeah, key word there, carrots: _Theorizing_."

"Well, it's not like a _bunny_ could go savage." Nick felt anger boil inside of him. _There's the truth._

"Right, but a fox could, huh?" He saw Judy's eyes widen.

"Nicl, stop it! You're not like them." She tried to assure him, but it only makes it worse.

"Oh, so there's a them now?" Nick questioned, anger and sarcasm oozing from each word. She scoffed in frustration.

"You know what I mean. You're not that kind of predator."

"The kind that needs to be muzzled?" He reminded her of the ranger scouts incident, and then looked down at the bottle of fox repellent peeking out of her pant pocket. "The kind that makes you believe that ou need to carry around _fox_ repellent?" He saw the guilt in Judy's eyes. "Yeah, don't think I missed _that_ little item the first time we met." He saw as reporters alike took notice of their little fight and began rolling, but he didn't care. He had officially gotten his point across, but he had become so angry that he continued to push.

He raked his claws through the fur top his head in frustration. "Le-let me ask you a question; are you afraid of me?" He closed the gap between them and her eyes widened. _Ding, ding, give the fox a prize,_ he thought.

"Do you think I might go nuts?" She flinched as he spoke again. _Right again, Wilde._

"Think I might go savage?" He used his claws for emphasis. Still no answer. _You're on roll, here._

"Do you think I might try to…" He paused then jumped forward, claws still beared. "EAT YOU!?" And this time, there was an answer. She jumped back and held one hand out while the other hovered over the bottle.

And at that moment, all of the disappointment, all of the anger, all of it; it was all gone. Instead it was replaced with sadness. Here stood a mammal that Nick had trusted; a mammal that he had told his life's story to, and now she was standing there, about to spray him with _fox_ repellent. Once again, he was heartbroken.

But he wasn't going to let _her_ know that.

"Huh, I knew it." He slumped backwards. "Just when I thought someone actually _believed_ in me…" Judy stepped forward to say something, but Nick held up his hand.

"Probably best that you don't make friends with me." He meant to say predator, but 'me' is what came out. And with that, Nick walked off. He heard her call out for him as he left the room, but he just winced and kept waliking.

"No, Nick. Nick!" Judy tried to catch up to him, but she was stopped by the now-continuing barrage of reporters.

"Ms. Hopps, were you just threatened by Nicholas Wilde?"

"Nonono, Nick is my _friend._ " She defended as she tried to move around them, only to fail.

"We can't even trust our own friends?"

"that is _not_ what I said!"

"Are we safe!?"

"Have you seen any other foxes go savage!?"

 _Oh God, what have I done?_

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Hey, guys, it's just fluff by myself today. Flapjack hasn't slept a wink in the past few days, and the poor thing almost fell asleep at work, so I forced him to go to sleep for a bit.**

 **Anyways, here's another chapter for you guys. This one's pretty heavy, and we got the idea from 3 differents PMs with other accounts. Nick's not quite as smooth and level-headed here as he was in the movie, so we hope you guys felt as though the emotions he was feeling was realistic.**

 **We originally planned for this to be an interview session with the band, and Judy would make her comments in the middle of the interview, but then we got a fourth PM from the lovely Tatuminhbca, who then gave us the revolutionary idea about Judy learning piano from her grandmother, so we incorporated it into the story and we** _ **LOVED**_ **it.**

 **For those who are joining us for the first time, this marks the beginning of a pretty heavy couple o' chapters, so I hope you guys can bear with us. It gets REALLY good, trust me.**

 **So I have a few notes. First things first: Mrs. Otterton's first name. she didn't have one in the movie, so we're just using her voice actor's first name. \**

 **The piano piece was** _ **Clair de Lune**_ **, a piece** **written by Claude Debussy, a brilliant french composer. Gazelle is Shakira, Elkton John is Elton John, and Paul McCatney is Paul McCartney.**

 **Yes, It was Jack leading Judy away from the reporters, not Bellwether, but don't get any ideas. Jack is** _ **not**_ **the anonymous tipster. He's one of the good guys.**

 **Sorry if this chapter had too many perspective changes, but we had to see what was going one between both Nick and Judy.**

 **One more thing before I go:**

 **Flapjack and I were doing a Q &A, and we had several questions, but now cannot access them because we cannot access our old account, so we're probably gonna start over. If there's anything you wanna kow about us, feel free to ask. Only one rule: No asking for personal info, please.**

 **That's all, though. I hope you guys have a very good day. Remember that life is short, so don't waste valuable time on trivial things and frustration. See you guys next time!**


	10. A BUNNY'S REMORSE

**CHAPTER 10: ONE RABBIT'S REMORSE**

"Well, from what I had heard, the doctors are saying that it _might_ have something to do… with their DNA." Nick's brow furrowed in confusion. _What?_

"Ms. Hopps, would you care to explain?"

"Um, yes. What I mean is: thousands of years ago, um, predators used to survive through their… a-aggressive hunting instincts." Nick's mind brought him back to the ranger scout incident, and his confusion was now being replaced by disbelief and… anger. "And for whatever reason, scientists believe that they may be reverting back to their savage, a-and primitive ways."

Judy was beginning to get uncomfortable as the reporters continued to press her for more answers, but she saw Jack enter the room and march over to them.

"Alright. That's enough. No more questions, thank you very much." He stated and pulled them out of the circle. "Sorry about that guys." He then heard his phone buzz and he walked away from the two to answer it.

Nick stood there and watch Judy take a deep breath.

"Wow, that was intense. I didn't even get to talk about how we met or-"

"Oh, I think you said plenty." Nick huffed out, a bitterness in his tone.

"What do you mean?" _She honestly doesn't know?_

"'It might have something to do with their DNA'? That 'these predators may be reverting back to their primitive savage ways'? Are you serious?" Nick made no attempt to hide the disappointment on his face as he repeated what she said, and she held up her hands in defense.

"I was just stating what the doctors were theorizing."

"Yeah, key word there, carrots: _Theorizing_."

"Well, it's not like a _bunny_ could go savage." Nick felt anger boil inside of him. Ah, t _here's the truth rearing its ugly head._

"Right, but a fox could, huh?" He saw Judy's eyes widen.

"Nicl, stop it! You're not like them." She tried to assure him, but it only makes it worse.

"Oh, so there's a _them_ now?" Nick questioned, anger and sarcasm oozing from each word. She scoffed in frustration.

"You know what I mean. You're not that kind of predator."

"The kind that needs to be muzzled?" He reminded her of the ranger scouts incident, and then looked down at the bottle of fox repellent peeking out of her pant pocket. "The kind that makes you believe that you need to carry around _fox_ repellent?" He saw the guilt in Judy's eyes. "Yeah, don't think I missed _that_ little item the first time we met." He saw as reporters alike took notice of their little fight and began rolling, but he didn't care. He had officially gotten his point across, but he had become so angry that he continued to push.

He raked his claws through the fur top his head in frustration. "Le-let me ask you a question; are you afraid of me?" He closed the gap between them and her eyes widened. _Ding, ding, give the fox a prize,_ he thought.

"Do you think I might go nuts?" She flinched as he spoke again. _Right again, Wilde._

"Think I might go savage?" He used his claws for emphasis. Still no answer. _You're on roll, here._

"Do you think I might try to…" He paused then jumped forward, claws still beared. "EAT YOU!?" And then he felt something build inside of him. Something raw, instinctual, and dangerous. He tried to stop, but his paw swung across Judy's left cheek, making 3 clean claw marks on her cheek. She yelped and fell back. She looked up at Nick, his pupils dilated, his breath heavy, and he could see fear fill his eyes.

The raw feeling subsided and he quickly realized what he had done and pulled a paw to his mouth.

"Carrots! Oh God, I'm so sorry." He reached out his paw to help her up, but she screamed and swatted at his paws with her own.

"Get away from me!" How had this happened? What just happened? One minute, he was angry at Judy, next minute, he felt something take control of him; something primal. His eyes widened. _Nonononono. That can't be right!_

"Judy, you have to believe me! I didn't mean to!"

"Get away from her, filthy pred!" He heard someone yell and he turned to see mammals all around the room either glaring or cowering. He looked down at his paws, his claws extended. Then he heard something behind him. He turned around just in time to see Judy shove a muzzle on him. He fell backward as he saw the look of fear on her face replaced with something darker.

"Judy, what are you doing!?" He managed.

"You're a predator, Nick. Just like the scouts said: You can't be trusted without a muzzle." He backed away until he felt the wall behind him stop him from moving further. Everyone around the room was now donning dark smiles on their faces and he could hear their laughs as they closed around them. He ducked his head between his legs, covering his ears and screwing his eyes shut. _Please, please, please just let this end._ Then he heard what sounded like his daughter.

"Daddy! Let him go!" He looked up and saw her pushing through the crowd to get to him. They tried to keep her from him, but then she bit one.

"Ah! You little brat!" He then heard a slap followed by a yelp, then a whimper. "You're a savage, just like you father."

"Savages need to be destroyed!" He heard someone yell, then there were shouts of agreement around the room. He then saw someone produce a gun from his jacket, and he began walking over to Lily.

"Don't you dare!" He growled through his muzzle and he felt paws restrain him. "I'll kill you! Leave my daughter alone!"

"The both of you are savages, Nick." He heard Judy say. "And savages need to be put down." Then he saw the mammal place the gun to Lily's head and began to squeeze the trigger.

 _NO!_

* * *

Nick shot up from his pillow, screaming. Then he looked around the dark room. _Another nightmare?_ He looked over at the clock.

 _ **11:00 a.m. Sidewalk Citizen's room, 3 weeks later.**_

Nick ran his claws through the fur atop his head. His coat was damp with sweat. Though Nick was accustomed to having nightmares, he'd never had these kinds before. These ones were more 'primal' centric, usually him going crazy and hurting someone he cared about. It had gotten bad; so bad that he made a decision last night that he was going to tell the others today.

He got up and headed out of the room. Lily and Katie were sitting at the coffee table, working on homework. They looked up at him and Lily got up and jumped to hug him. His thoughts went back to the nightmare he just had and his eyes glazed over as he hugged her tightly.

"Good morning, daddy."

"Good morning, sweetie." He let go of her and set her back down on the floor.

"Have you heard from Judy?" He grimaced at the sound of her name. He told the band as well as Lily, Katie and Jack about the fight. Even if he hadn't, though, they would've seen it on the TV or in the paper a few days later. They weren't happy with her, but it never got so bad that they were glad she was gone.

"No, I haven't."

"You can't stay angry forever, dad. You care about her." Nick smiled at her. Lily had a way of making people feel better, no matter how bad they may feel.

"Alright, sweetie, I'll try. Do you mind going and waking up the guys for me?"

"Okay." And with that, Lily left the room and Nick sat down and pinched the bridge of his snout. He and Katie sat in silence for a while until Katie spoke up.

"She's right you know." Nick, eyes still closed, rose his eyebrows.

"Hmm?"

"You can't stay angry forever."

Nick sighed and opened his eyes. "I know, and I won't, but that doesn't mean that I'm gonna forgive her." Before she could retort, they heard the doors open. "Hey guys."

"What's up, Nick." Finnick asked and Nick pulled out a paper with an attached picture of a house.

"I have a proposition for us."

* * *

 _ **2:30 p.m. Pangolin Arm's Hotel**_

Judy swung the door closed behind her and tossed her keys and bag onto her bed. She took a seat at her desk and laid her head on her arm. She reached over and turned on her radio.

" _How could you be so, cold as the winter wind when it breeze, yo."_

 _*click*_

" _What you even come around for?_ _You ain't have my back even when I had yours.""_

 _*click*_

" _Did you have to do this? I was thinking that you could be trusted"_

 _*click*_

The radio went silent and Judy tucked her arm under her chin with the other. One month. It had been one month since the fight, one month since reporters leaked the fight all over the city, and one month since the city went to chaos. But most of all, it had been one month since Judy last saw the guys; since she last saw Nick. After the fight, she didn't feel as though it wouldn't have been right for her to go back to the apartment, so she rented out an apartment to stay at for a while. She heard her phone buzz and she pulled it out to see a text from her brother, Nathan.

 **Nathan: Hey.**

 **Judy: Hey.**

 **Nathan: How you holding up?**

 **Judy: Not well.**

 **Nathan: Well, I'm free today. Wanna meet up?**

Judy honestly didn't know whether she wanted to or not. She _really_ needed someone to talk to, but she also didn't know whether she could step back outside again. After her fight with Nick got leaked, the entire city as split in two. Predators were treated like dirt and disgusting monsters, and it was all because of what she said that night. Any time she passed one, they would look at her with either hurt, anger, disappointment, or a mix of the three. She could never handle the last one, because it reminded her of Nick after their fight. She felt her phone buzz in her paw again.

 **Nathan: ?**

 **Judy: Sure.**

* * *

"You look horrible." Nathan was sitting on a bench in the central park, playing a ukulele. His shirt was ruffled, and he didn't look too well either.

"You don't look too well yourself, sissy." He quipped, but then his expression went cold. "Nick stopped talking to me. I tried to get in touch with him, but every time I did, one of the other guys would be on the other end." Judy's brow furrowed and she plopped onto the spot beside him.

"This is all my fault."

"Yeah, it is." Judy turned to him. She wasn't looking for comfort, but his response was so quick and direct, it was almost as if he just shot her. "I mean, why'd you even say _anything_ to those reporters?" That was question that she had been asking herself a lot lately. Had she not said anything that night, none of this would have happened had she just kept her mouth shut.

"I honestly don't know."

"And another question, why'd you even have that fox repellent?" Judy padded the pocket she used to keep the fox spray used to be in. After their fight, she had thrown it away in a passing garbage truck, never to see it again. "And why'd you almost spray Nick with it? He was your friend. He trusted you with stuff he'd never trusted anyone with." Judy's ears shot up.

"What are you talking about. The stuff that he told me, you knew, the guys knew."

"The guys knew because they were there when it happened. They witnessed it happen." Judy's eyes widened. She'd never thought about that. "And the only reason I know is because Olivia and Emmitt told me. Nick had _never_ told anyone about his past on his own. You were the first." _Oh God, What did I do?_ Judy's paw covered her mouth as she realized what she did. She was the first person Nick had _ever_ trusted with his past and she went and destroyed his trust.

"Oh God, no."

"Yeah, it's pretty bad."

Judy got up and began to leave. "I need to talk to him!"

"Good luck with that."

She paused and turned to her brother, whom was still sitting on the bench. "Why?"

"He's not at the apartment."

Judy's head tilted. "Why not?"

"Because," He got up, holding his uke in one hand, and looked in the direction of the apartment, then answered.

"They moved out."

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Hey guys, it's Fluff on my own again. Surprise, I've got another chapter for you today. I was gonna post it on monday, but I decided against that action. Hopefully you guys 'enjoyed' the chapter. This chapter is influenced by a nightmare that Flapjack had on a recurring basis. He had some pretty serious anger issues growing up, and the older he got, the more violent his actions became. He never actually hurt his loved ones, but he began to have nightmares of it. Needless to say, it was a task trying to get him to sleep.**

 **It still is, but that's a sob story for another time. I hope you guys stay happy.** **We'll see you next time.**


	11. FAMILY MATTERS

**CHAPTER 11: FAMILY MATTERS**

As the sun began to rise over the hills of Bunnyburrow, its population slowly shifted in their beds. It was at this time that the collective population began to rise from their beds, get dressed and begin their tasks for the day. However, one particular bunny found it hard to rise from her bed. She simply lay in her bed, piddling with a black pick with a broken sword and shield etched into it. Her eyes were somber and tired, and the usual smile on her face was long gone.

It had been three months since Judy had her fight with Nick, and it had been two months since she found out that the guys had moved out of their apartment. After her brother had told her that they moved out, she went to see for herself. When she made it to the top floor, she saw all of the doors left open. Noah and Katie's cook books, Joey's training equipment, Finnick's old rap cassettes, Nick's Vinyl Records… Everything was gone. She had headed back downstairs and the landlord had said that they packed up her stuff and left it for her to pick up as well as a letter that they wrote for her.

Still lying in her bed, she grabbed the letter off of her bedside table and read through it again.

 _Judy,_

 _If you're reading this, that means you know that we're no longer staying here anymore. Sorry for not letting you know about it, but we were hoping that maybe Nick would do it. However, if you're reading this, he obviously didn't. Regardless, we moved to an estate in the Deciduous Domain, which Mr. Big provided for us. We would really like it if you met us there. Joey, Finnick, Noah, Lily, me… we miss you. It was painful for us to hear that you hurt Nick, but you're still a part of the family. So, we decided to write you this letter. The estate is off of Howling Drive. We're hoping that you'll come and find us, but we'll let you decide whether you want to or not. Come when you're ready._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Katie_

Her brow furrowed as she set the letter back on the bedside table and wrapped her arms around a carrot-shaped pillow as she sat up. She desperately wanted to see them again, but she knew that Nick wouldn't be happy to see her again. He had given her his trust and she had trampled all over it. _No, he'd never forgive me. Why should he?_

It wasn't long after her she found out about their move that she decided head back to the burrows. She could help but let out a bitter chuckle into the pillow as she remembered the first conversation she and Nick had.

"… _And soon enough those dreams die and our bunny sinks into emotional and literal squalor, living in a box under a bridge. Till, finally, she has no choice but to go back home with that cute fuzzy-wuzzy tail between her legs to become... You're from Bunnyburrow, you said? So how about a carrot farmer? Does that sound about right?"_

He was right. She was a mess, and she _did_ run home her tail 'between her legs'. Maybe, if she had listened to him in the first place, she wouldn't have so much heartbreak and guilt to deal with. But before she could dwell on those thoughts, she heard her door creak open.

"Hey, sweetie. Breakfast is ready." She heard her mom say, and she turned her head around and tried her best to smile.

"Okay, mom. I'll be right down."

* * *

Bonnie Hopps sat in her chair, her shoulders slumped over. She was completely out of ideas. As happy as a mother would be to see her daughter again, she knew that her little baby girl was depressed. She had come home and tried to do her best to maintain a happy exterior, but it wasn't too hard to see past it. She had tried everything to make her that happy girl that she knew, but nothing she did worked. Clawhauser was even given 2 weeks off by Bogo to visit them, but even _he_ couldn't do anything.

When she originally came home, she had said nothing was wrong, but Bonnie wasn't out of the loop. The news of Judy's fight with that Nick character had made it all the way to the Burrows as well as other surrounding towns. The entire city had practically shut down. All events, including the Pawlapalooza music festival, had been postponed until further notice. She knew that things were only getting worse in the city. She heard the door open and turned to see a plump cheetah in a grey tee walk in.

"Good morning, Mrs. Hopps."

"Morning, Ben. And, just Bonnie is fine." She got up and pulled out a plate of gourmet doughnuts and set them on the table. She chuckled a bit as she saw Ben's eyes light up at the sight of his favorite breakfast.

"Did you talk to Judy?" He asked, his voice muffled from the doughnut in his mouth.

"Yes. She's still not in the best of moods right now." Clawhauser's face dropped at that statement. "She feels horrible about everything., I can tell. She won't talk about it to anyone; not me, not her father, not even you." She then remembered Clawhauser had mentioned something about his job last night. "How're you holding up since the upset."

"Oh, well…" Clawhauser shifted in his seat, visibly uncomfortable. "The city board decided that it would be best if a predator wasn't the first face that people saw when they walked into the ZPD, so they forced Bogo to move me to records." Bonnie's brow furrowed at the thought of people seeing Clawhauser as dangerous. Sure, she and her husband were deathly afraid of predators when they met him, but Ben was a friendly face to all.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I'm sure Judy is guilt-ridden about it."

"She doesn't know. I didn't want her feeling even worse." They sat in silence for a while until Clawhauser grabbed the TV remote and turned it on to the ZNN. "I should probably check to see how things are going back in the city." Immediately, the news anchors, the news belt reading 'tundratown tragedy' on the bottom of the screen.

" _More bad news in this 'City Gripped By Fear': a caribou is in critical condition, the victim of a mouling by a savage polar bear. This, the 27_ _th_ _such attack, comes just one week after now-former Sidewalk Citizens member Judy Hopps connected the violence to traditionally predatory mammals."_

" _Meanwhile, a peace rally organized by pop-star Gazelle was marred by protests."_

" _Go back to the forest, predator!"_

" _I'm from the Savannah!"_

They continued to watch the screen as Gazelle began to speak to the reporter on-sight, oblivious to the fact that Judy had entered the room.

" _Zootopia is a unique place. It's a crazy, beautiful, diverse city where we celebrate our differences. This is not the Zootopia I know. The Zootopia I know is better than this. We don't just blindly assign blame. We don't know why these attacks keep happening, but it is irresponsible to label all predators as savages. We cannot let fear divide us. Please, give me back the Zootopia I love."_

It was then that Bonnie turned and saw Judy standing at the door, her eyes glazed.

"Oh, Judy!" At the sound of Judy's name, Claw immediately shut off the TV. "We were just-"

"It's okay, mom." She sat down, grabbed a doughnut and began nibbling at the edge. There was an awkward silence and a few exchanged glances between Bonnie and Clawhauser before Bonnie spoke up.

"OK! I'm about to head out and join Stu at the stands, if you two would like, you can join me." Clawhauser decided to go along with it.

"Sure! Judy, wanna come?"

"… Sure."

* * *

It was hard watching Judy at the stand. Her ears hung limp at the back of her head and she hid somber eyes underneath her straw hat. Bonnie knew how bad depression could affect a bunny. She remembered how it took one of her sons before. Judy's older sister, Helen, was an army medic for 6 years before one day, she was relieved from duty. She came home and depression and PTSD had taken its toll on her. She, like Judy, was a joyful and spite-fire type bunny, but after whatever she saw overseas, she lost all of it. And one night, she must have simply lost the will to live and just slipped away in her sleep.

It happened to Helen, and Bonnie was NOT about to leave her baby girl to the same fate. Stu walked up behind her.

"How's our little girl?"

"Not good. Is he coming today?"

"Who?" Stu was confused for a second, but then the little light bulb in his head went off. "Oh, yeah. He'll be here."

"Good. Let's have him drop off the goods at the stand."

* * *

Judy leaned up against the stand and looked at the newspaper sitting on the table. The headline read 'ZOOTOPIAN MUSICIANS LEAD PEACE RALLIES ACROSS ZOOTOPIA'. Clawhauser had taken over managing the stand so Judy could have some time to think. She stood there in silence until she heard her father behind her.

"Hey there, Jude. Jude the dude. Remember that one?" Silence. "How we doin'?"

"I'm fine."

"You are not fine. Your ears are droopy." She heard her mother say. _I guess I have to answer them._ She sighed and replied.

"Why did I think I could make it as a musician."

"Because you're a trier. That's why."

"You've always been a trier." They were trying to make her feel better, but it only made things worse.

"Oh, I tried. And I only made life _so_ much worse for so many innocent predators." Then there was a honk of a vehicle.

"Oop! Not _all_ of them, though. Speak of the devil. Right on time." Judy looked up as she saw a van labeled _Gideon Grey's Bakery_ , on the side.

"Is that," She lifted herself up as depression was replaced with wonder. "Gideon Grey?"

"Yep, sure is. We work with him now." Judy turned to her parents. _How? These can't be the same parents who almost gave me a fox taser?_

"He's our partner, and we _never_ would've considered it had you not opened our eyes.

"That's right." Stu rebuffed. "I mean, Gid's become one of the top pastry chefs in the tri-burrows." She looked at Gideon, then back at her parents, a smile creeping onto her face.

"That's really cool, you guys." She left the stand and rounded out to the back of the van where Gideon was unloading.

"Gideon Grey." He turned around and she stuck her paws in her pockets. "Well, I'll be darned."

"Hey Judy, ahd just like to say ahm sorry for the way ah-ah-ah behaved in mah youth. Ah-ah had a lot of self doubt and it manifested itself in a form of unchecked rage and aggression. I was a _major_ jerk."

How had so many people change so much in so little time? Here was this fox whom, when they were kids, told her that she'd never be anything more than a carrot farming dumb-bunny. But now, he was this sweet, stuttering fox whom worked with her parents.

"Well, I know a thing or two about being a jerk." She heard her parents, as well as Clawhauser step up behind her, and Gideon smiled, grabbing a tray of blueberry pies.

"Anyhow ah brought y'all these pies." They went to grab the pies when Stu heard laughter coming from the fields, then turned quickly and shouted.

"Hey kids, don't you run through those midnicampum holicithias!"

"Now there's a four-dollar word, Mr. H. Mah family always just called em' Night Howlers." At that, Clawhauser jumped up.

"What'd you say?"

"Oh, he's talking about the flowers, Ben. I use em' to keep the bugs off the produce, but I don't like the little ones to run through em' on account of what happened to Judy's uncle Terry." Judy glanced over as well. She'd not heard much of uncle Terry. Then, her mom spoke up.

"Yeah, Terry ate one whole when we were kids and went completely nuts."

"He bit the dickens out of Bon!" Ben came to a realization, and then began scrambling to the stand to grab his keys.

"Sorry guys, I've gotta go!" Judy jumped back at the speed at which Ben was running around.

"Wha? Where?"

"Back to Zootopia, I have some new information of the missing mammals case that I need to bring to the Chief _immediately!_ " He hopped into his car, and started it. All this time, Judy analyzed everything in her mind. _Maybe it's not too late. Maybe I can fix things._ She was jolted out of her thoughts when she heard Ben beginning to drive off. She turned to her mom and dad and gave them a tight hug.

"I love you guys." She then began running to catch up to Ben, yelling back "I'll see you soon!". She continued to bound off, waving frantically at Ben until he stopped the car. She hopped in and they sped off to Zootopia, leaving a _very_ confused bunny couple and fox baker behind.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Flapjack: Hey everyone, it's Flapjack and Fluff again.**

 **Fluff: Both sick now, [snifles and glares at Flapjack] Both sick, but still bringing you another chapter.**

 **Flapjack: So, we're getting REALLY close to where we left off. As in 2 chapters away.**

 **Fluff: We hope you guys have enjoyed these past chapters. The next chapter is the last chapter that is sligtly canon with the original plot. For those who are joining us for the second time, NO SPOILERS!**

 **Flapjack: We're still doing the Q &A, so ask away. [no personal information]**

 **Fluff: That's about it. Leave reviews, fave and follow the fic/us. We'll see you next time.**


	12. DUMB BUNNIES AND WHERE TO FIND 'EM

**CHAPTER 12: DUMB BUNNIES AND WHERE TO FIND 'EM**

 _ **3:30 p.m. Zootopia city limits.**_

"Ben, I don't understand. What's up with night howlers?" Judy asked Clawhauser while he sped through the entrance.

"When we found the missing mammals, one of them – an otter – said something about Night howlers, but since we had already found everything, we assumed it was needless information."

"Okay, but what does that mean?"

"It means that predators aren't reverting back! Someone is _making_ them go savage!" Judy's eyes went wide after hearing this.

"But wouldn't that mean Lionheart did it?"

"No, Lionheart didn't have any other private properties and there were no traces of anything else other than the mammals at the facility. We traced the anonymous call to Assistant Mayor Dawn Bellwether."

"The new mayor?"

"Yeah, and if Lionheart was trying to contain the mammals, then who was shooting them? On top of that, who had access to his files?" Ben turned on his siren and sped up. "I've gotta get this to Bogo. This changes everything!"

Judy pulled out Katie's letter and stared at it for a second, then looked up to Clawhauser. "I need to stop for a second."

"Why?"

"I need to get to Nick."

"Where is he?"

"Off of Howling Drive." She then felt a sudden jerk as Clawhauser turned right. She looked forward to see a sign that read _Entering Deciduous Domain_. "You don't have to drive me there, Benji. You need to get to the police station."

"I'm driving you there. End of discussion." Judy looked over at Ben, whom had a determined look on his chubby face, and she smiled.

* * *

Benjamin drove off, leaving Judy standing at the Corner where Howling Drive met Canid Court. She marveled at the amount of space in the Deciduous Domain. The sector was bigger than the other ones on land size alone, but it's population wasn't nearly as dense as the city center or downtown. She looked down the road, giant beautiful trees on both sides. The city section was a pleasant climate with a partially-cloudy climate. She saw a tiger and lioness couple walking down the sidewalk hand-in-hand smiling and waving at neighbors, whom, to Judy's surprise, smiled and waved back. Kits rode on their bikes down the street and teenagers slumped against trees texting on their phones.

She continued to walk down the street, then realized that she had no idea where she was going. She opened up the letter to see that there was no address. _How am I supposed to find them if there's no address?_ She looked around and saw a fruit stand nearby. She walked up and the bunny running it smiled warmly.

"Afternoon, ma'am." The buck spoke with a familial tone. "What can I do ya for?"

"Actually, I was wondering if you could help me. By any chance do you know of anyone whom recently moved here in the past two months."

"Yes, actually. There was this band that moved into the estate a little further down this road. Poor guys looked like they'd lost someone dear to 'em, but they've been real uplifting in this district." Judy tilted her head in confusion.

"Uplifting? How's that?"

"Well, we had a real problem with prejudices around here for a while, but they've been helping us out with that, and now we're a pretty open community." He gestured down the road. "Their place is down that way. You can't miss it."

She thanked him, paid for an apple and began walking down the road. The domain was very nice. Everyone was sweet and gentle. On her way to the house, she received a couple of gentle smiles from a doe and her kit, an elderly wolf couple and another interspecies couples. _This place can't be a part of Zootopia. It's almost as if it's untouched by the conflict._ Which is exactly what seemed to be. While the rest of the city was ridden with conflict and prejudices, it seemed like the Deciduous Domain was the only solace from it all. In a way, it reminded Judy of the Central park, except it was an entire sector where people lived.

As she pulled herself from her thoughts, the corner of her eye caught sight of Finnick's van. She turned to look in that direction, and her eyes widened.

It actually _was_ an estate. The house was much bigger than the others, it's exterior comprised of brick and board. The house was surrounded by a considerable amount of land like the others, and on the right side of it was a beautiful garden. In the back of her mind, she was wondering _How did they afford this… Oh, right. Mr. Big._ She gulped and walked forward. She stepped up to the door and looked down and saw the same mat she saw the first time she went to their apartment.

" _We're Loud: Be Warned"_

She closed her eyes and sighed sighed deeply. _No turning back now._ She opened her eyes and knocked three times on the door.

"Joey, someone's at the door!" She heard Finnick yell, followed by Noah.

"Joey's training with Nick! Just answer the door!" She chuckled as her mind brought her back to a similar conversation when she first went to their apartment.

"Argh! Fine!" She heard footsteps and Finnick grumbling under his breath, and then the door flew open, and standing there was the Fennec drummer, his eyes wide after seeing who was at the door.

"…Judy." She gulped and tried her best to smile.

"Hi Finnick." There was silence for a bit and then she shifted in her place. "I just wanted to come by and say s-" She was cut off by Finnick as she felt the fox wrap his arms around her. She was dumbfounded by this action as she remembered Finnick's' no-touching' policy.

"Shut up." He spoke over her shoulder. "Anything ya did in the past don't matter anymore." She teared up a bit and he pulled away, a warm smile on his face. "Come on in."

Judy stepped inside and was immediately astounded. The house, which was big on the outside, was enormous on the inside. From where she stood, she could see a chandelier above her, dark-colored wooden stairs that led upstairs, and a music room to her left. The wooden floor beneath her was the same color as the stairs and the walls switched between brick like the exterior and drywall.

"Who is it, Finn?" She heard Katie's voice, then saw her step to the front room. Her eyes widened and a smile crept onto her face. "Judy!" She ran to her and wrapped her arms around her, and Judy laughed and reciprocated.

"Judy?" She heard Noah say, then saw him step into the front room. "Judy!" She heard then felt Noah's arms wrap around the both of them as he lifted them both off of the floor. Judy was tearing up and laughing. Noah set them back onto the floor. "It's good to see you."

"It's good to see you guys, too." Judy replied, then looked around. "Where's Lily?"

"She's in the back yard with Jack and Skye." Katie said.

"Skye?"

"She's one of Jack's friends. Skye's been teaching Lily violin. I can take you out there if you'd like." Judy nodded.

"Yeah, that'd be nice."

* * *

Judy stepped out, into the side yard where she saw Lily, Jack and an arctic fox sitting in the garden. The moment she stepped into the garden, Lily's head shot up, and ran to Judy.

"Judy!" She called out and jumped up. Judy caught her in a hug and laughed.

"Hey, Lily!" She let her go and set her back on the ground. Lily grabbed her paw and brought her to the others. Jack stood up and held out a paw.

"It's good to see you, Judy." Judy, ignoring the paw, pulled him into a hug. "Oof! Well, I don't normally do hugs, but I guess this one is fine." He hugged her back warmly, then let go.

"So, you're Judy." She turned to see the Arctic fox stand to her feet. She was a beautiful vixen with a thick, smooth, pure-white coat of fur. Her eyes were a haunting orange, but her face was kind. The vixen held out her paw, and Judy shook it. "My name is Skye. I'm a friend of Jack's."

"And my auntie!" Lily spoke. Judy looked at her, then back to Skye. Then, she remembered the conversation she had with Nick.

" _She was this beautiful arctic fox named Aurora."_

Her eyes widened as she realized who Skye was. "You're Aurora's sister."

"Yeah, I am."

"I am so, _so_ sorry." Skye held up a paw.

"No need. It was a long time ago, and I know that she's in a better place now."

"Skye is actually the reason I found out about Nick." Jack spoke up. "She's a concert violinist. We met on her first year of college and have been friends ever since." Skye playfully tweaked his ear, and for a second, Judy thought she saw Jack blush a bit.

"So! Nick has told me a _lot_ about you." Judy's eyes filled with guilt for a moment. "Yes, including that. But he told me more about the good times than the bad. He said that you have an amazing voice."

"Thanks…" Then she remembered the main reason she as here. "Speaking of Nick, where is he? I need to talk to him."

"He's with Joey in the training room. It's upstairs to the left." Judy began running to the house, but doubled back and shook Skye's hand again.

"Thanks. It was very nice meeting you." Then she began running back to the house. Skye watched her enter the house and Jack asked.

"You think he'll forgive her?"

"I really hope so. Nick needs someone to share his demons with."

* * *

The training room was a big room, and they weren't sure why it was on the second floor, but it had become Nick's favorite room because it was practically sound proof. When the double sliding glass doors were closed, he could spend hours and hours taking out any anger he had on the punching bags and he could yell as loud as he wanted; No one would hear it. But right now, he was more focused on the blur of white and black delivering powerful blows to his ribcage.

"Keep your hands up!" Though Joey's parents left their perspective lives, it didn't stop them from teaching their son how to fight. Years of combat training with his father and reflex training with his mother made him a dangerous mammal in a fight, and over the past few weeks, Nick had witnesses those skills first-hand. Since the guys had moved in, he and Joey had been training together as a way for him to blow off steam, and for the most part it worked; It's hard to stay angry after taking a beating by an Irish husky.

"Come on, Nick. You're not focused! Look for openings."

"Easy for you to say!" Nick said after taking a blow to the face. "You have none!"

"No one has a perfect defense! Know your enemy!" He said before landing a blow to Nick's side. "Know his weaknesses," Another to the upper abdomen. "and exploit them!" Then another to the face, and Nick fell to the padded floor beneath them. "There's no such thing as a fair fight. You do what you need to in order to win."

Nick looked up, then remembered that Joey's left leg was torn up in a freak motorcycle accident. Though it healed up (eventually), it still caused immense pain when enough pressure was applied. Joey held out his paw and Nick pulled it up, but halfway back up, he regained his balance and delivered a straight jab down on Joey's left thigh. The Husky yelped in pain and Nick took advantage of the opening, whirling him down to the ground and placing one precise shot to his solar plexus. The air was knocked out of Joey, leaving him gasping for air for a few seconds while Nick sat down on the padded floor. After Joey recuperated, he laughed loudly, still laying on the floor.

"You remembered the motorcycle wound."

"How could I not? Ma was fussing at you for a week!"

"Ha! Yeah, those were good times." Nick and Joey got up, both grabbing a towel and wiping themselves off. "You're getting good, Nick. Who knows? Maybe one day, you'll be half as good as me!" He quipped, earning him a punch to the shoulder.

"But just as humble, right?" They laughed together, completely oblivious to the fact that the double glass doors just opened.

"N-Nick?" Both Nick and Joey's eyes shot open. _Could that be…_ they thought, then turned around. There stood that little bunny that changed their lives forever. She looked horrible; as if she had done a lot of crying over the past few weeks.

"…Judy." Nick spoke without emotion.

"Hi, Nick."

* * *

As Judy approached the glass doors, she saw Nick and Joey sparring in the room. Something about Nick was different. His eyes were determined, but they also looked exhausted as if he hadn't slept in weeks. _Did I do_ _this to him?_ He wasn't that scrawny fox she met before, either. His body had toned up quite a bit since she had last seen him, and his fur looked thicker. _Oh, Nick._

They finished up, and she took a deep breath and opened the door. They were laughing about something and she wasn't sure if they heard her come in. _No going back now, Jude._

"N-Nick?"

She saw both of them tense up and silence filled the room. They slowly turned around, their faces mixed with confusion and shock. More silence, but Joey's face lit up. However, Nick showed no emotion and she couldn't tell if it was worse than the look he gave her 3 months ago.

"… Judy." There was no emotion in his voice, and Judy felt her name cut through her like a knife.

"Hi, Nick." More silence, and Joey looked at her, then him, then clapped his hands together.

"Well! I'm gonna give _you two_ some alone time, and I'm gonna go take a shower." He grabbed his towel and walked towards the door. He whispered "It's good to see you, Judy." Then left the room, but not before he said "You two play nice, now."

There was more silence, then Judy spoke. "It's good to see you Nick. You look good-"

"What are you doing here, Judy?" _Judy? He never calls me Judy._

"I-I came to apologize. And tell you that I was wrong. Predators aren't going savage. Ben said that someone is targeting them and using toxic flowers to infect them."

"Wow, isn't that interesting." His voice was apathetic and bitter, and he turned away. He was walking away again, and Judy wasn't sure she could take that again.

"Wait, uh, wait-listen! I-I know you'll never forgive me! And I don't blame you. I wouldn't forgive me either. I was ignorant, and... irresponsible... and small-minded. But predators shouldn't suffer because of my mistakes. I have to fix this. But I don't want to do it without you." Judy's voice cracked during the last sentence.

"And... and after we're done, you can hate me, and tha-" Tears began to well up and she found it harder to speak, but she tried to continue. "And that'll be fine, because I was a horrible friend, and I hurt you. And you-" She was blubbering now as she continued to speak through stifled sobs. "And you can walk away knowing you were right all along." He still hadn't turned around and she moved her lips to finish her statement.

"I really am just a dumb bu-"

"Don't."

She looked up, her eyes wide and tears rolling down from them. His voice wasn't soft, nor kind, but it wasn't accusatory either. It was…somber. He turned around, the exhaustion in his eyes even more evident.

"W-What?"

"Just… don't." He stated. "I don't wanna hear it. You're _not_ a dumb bunny, so don't say that. And you don't need to apologize. I've forgave you weeks ago." She smiled for a second and went to hug hum, but he held up his hand. "But… don't think that things are just gonna go back to the way they were between us. You still hurt me, badly."

She stepped back and nodded. "I understand."

"No, I don't think you do." Her brow furrowed and he continued. "There are very few people that I trust, and there is only _one_ person whom I've personally told my history to, and that was you." She lowered her head as she recalled the conversation she had with her brother. "Then after the crap that you said that night, you threw away all the trust I'd placed in you." She began shifting in her spot. It was one thing for her brother to tell her, but it was a totally different thing for Nick to convey his pain.

"… But," She looked up. She wasn't expecting a 'but'. "You're still a part of this family, so I'm not gonna make you leave."

"Thank yo-"

"Uh-uh. I'm not finished." He bent down so he was eye-level with her. "You can stay, but starting today, we are not friends. This," He waved two fingers between him and her. "is gone, and it's gonna take time for me to decide if I wanna pursue our friendship again. Got it?" She closed her eyes and nodded. "Good." He stood back up and gestured towards the door. "Go ahead and head back downstairs. Noah's probably got dinner made." She nodded and began heading out the door and Nick turned to grab his towel. Before she left through the door, she turned around.

"I missed you, Nick. We may not be friends right now, but know this: I will do whatever it takes to get your trust back. I'll see you at dinner."

And with that, she left the room, completely unaware of the fox whom sat down on the bench and placed his face in his paw. He bridge the bridge of his snout, and then smirked.

 _I missed you too, Fluff._

* * *

 **Fluff: You just couldn't let it be, could you?**

 **Flapjack: [chuckles mischievously] Trust me, it's gonna get good.**

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Flapjack: Hey everyone, we're back!**

 **Fluff: And we've got another chapter!**

 **Flapjack: So we hope you've enjoyed the story so far. As we said in the previous chapter, this is the LAST chapter that goes along with the original plot. from here on out, our story is going to be completely manufactured by us, so we'll have a bit more freedom.**

 **Fluff: so we got the idea of Skye Steppefurd from the internet. for those who don't know who that is, Skye Steppefurd is Jack Savage's love interest according to our many sources (i.e. tumblr, reddit & other fanfictions)**

 **Flapjack: Holy crap, we've got one more chapter and we'll be caught up!**

 **Fluff: That's right folks, we're almost there. for those who are joining us for the second time, we appreciate and thank you for your patience. You guys are the best.** **We don't have as many followers as we did on our last account, but that doesn't matter. We made this for whoever wanted to read it, so as long as we have at least ONE person reading this, we'll keep making it.**

 **Flapjack: That's about it. We love you guys and we hope you guys stay happy. There's a lot of sad crap going on right now, but we hope you guys keep pushing on. Things do get better. _Trust us_ , We'd know.**

 **Fluff: Leave us reviews, fave/follow us and the story if you want. We'll try to get the next chapter out to you at least by Friday. See ya then!**


	13. PRED AND PREY

**Flapjack: WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!**

 **Fluff: HOLD UP! DO NOT START READING BEFORE YOU READ THIS!**

 **Flapjack: This is a REALLY heavy chapter. We're going to delve a little deeper into Skye and Nick's past, so yes, that means there will be a flashback scene to Aurora's death.**

 **Fluff: It's really dark, so if you're like me and you aren't very good with death, be warned. You have to read it, however. DON'T SKIP IT! It contains content that is relevant to future chapters.**

 **Flapjack: Also, WE'RE BACK! [Party hat, streamers, cheering]**

 **Fluff: This is our most recent chapter, which means either tomorrow or Monday, we're gonna post a brand-new chapter unseen by anyone! But for now, we hope you 'enjoy' this chapter.**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 14: PREDATORS AND PREY**

3 days have passed since Judy had moved back in with the guys, and things seemed to be looking up again. However, one thing was bugging Joey the past few days: What was up with Nick? It seemed as though he was actively avoiding Judy, only speaking to her when it was necessary. He understood that Nick was hurting, but he needed to get over it eventually.

Nick and he had gone to the training room for their sparring match. Nick's channeled anger wasn't as intense as it normally was, but his frustration had skyrocketed, leaving him painfully vulnerable. It wasn't long before Nick was on the floor, groaning in pain. Joey, however, hadn't broken much of a sweat.

"Why even come up here like this? You didn't last 2 minutes."

"I'm just a little out of touch is all."

"You're frustrated."

"Astute observation there."

"That frustration is hurting your focus." He tossed a towel to Nick, whom caught it and wiped his face. "You haven't been putting up much of a fight since Judy moved back in."

"Oh, God. Not you too."

"So I'm not the first?"

"No, it was Katie first, then Skye." He spoke, his voice muffled from the towel. He pulled the towel down and huffed in exhaustion. "Alright, let me hear it."

"What're you talking about?"

"Aren't you gonna tell me something like 'You need to make amends with her' or 'She came back. Isn't that enough'?"

"No, I'm not." Joey grabbed a towel and wrapped it around the back of his neck. "I just want you to make a decision."

"What're you talking about?"

"If you want to heal that relationship, then talk to her and start working things out. If you don't want that friendship, then tell her that. That way she knows how you feel. Don't just avoid her and leave her guessing. That's unfair to her." The fox lowered his head and Joey could tell Nick knew that he was right. He grabbed his towel and headed towards the door. "Don't make your decision now, but do it soon. I'll see you at lunch."

* * *

"Lily, have you practiced?"

Skye was sitting in a chair next to Judy when Lily went running down the hall. She stopped after Skye asked the question and turned around.

"Yes, aunt Skye."

"Okay, would you like to Join Katie, Judy and I for a little bit of ice cream?"

"Ooh, yes, yes, yes!" She jumped up and down in her spot, then ran to the door. Judy and Katie giggled a bit as the three ladies got up to join the young kit at the door. They started walking down the road and Judy looked around the neighborhood. Autumn was here and the trees, which three days ago were just beginning to color, were now bursting with magnificent shades of red, yellow and orange. The sun was out, but the burning heat was now a pleasant warmth that embraced the entire district. Skye was walking next to Judy with a soft smile on her face. Judy looked at her and thought to herself. _Would it be inappropriate of me to ask abou-_

"So Judy, I'm assuming Nick told you about Aurora?" Skye asked, still keeping her eye on Lily. Judy's eyes went wide at Skye's question.

"Uh, yeah. He did."

"How much did he tell you?" Her voice wasn't concerned, but rather inquisitive.

"He told me about how he tried to push her away, but she kept loving him. He also told me about how Lily came about, as well as how she…" Her voice trailed off after considering that she might have gone too far.

"Died?" Skye asked.

"Yeah."

"I'm assuming he didn't tell you that I was there?"

"What?"

"Yeah, I was there for all of it…"

* * *

 _ **4:30 p.m. Meadowlands district, 7 years ago**_

"Seriously though, how's Nick been holding up?" Skye and Aurora Steppefurd were walking down the sidewalk with groceries in their paws. They were laughing about Nick's failed attempts to change Lily's diapers. Skye was in college when she found out about Aurora's pregnancy and disownment. She chastised their parents about it, and they in turn told her they never wanted to see her again. She hadn't talked to their parents since then; wealth or no wealth, her parents had acted out of cowardice when they disowned their own child to protect their reputation. She took it upon herself to care for her sister, turning down an international philharmonic position so she could be closer to her.

"Didn't he tell you he was doing fine?" Aurora stated through stifled giggles.

"Yeah, but you know Nick."

"Yeah, I guess I do." Their giggle fits quieted down and Aurora resumed. "He's… struggling. He's trying his best to be there for me. He offered to drop out of school, but I didn't want him to do that."

"You know that I'm always here to help out, right?"

"Yeah, I know. But you've got your own life to live, Skye. You can't be there for me all the time." They came to the end of the walkway and Aurora tapped the crossing button. Skye's phone rang and she pulled it out; It was Jack. "Ooh, Jack? Boyfriend?" Skye smirked at her and tapped _answer_ , walking away from Aurora.

 **Skye: Hey Jack.**

 **Jack: Hey, where are you?**

 **Skye: I'm with my sister.**

 **Jack: Oh, how is she?**

 **Skye: She's doing good. Nick has been struggling, but they seem to be progressing.**

 **Jack: That's good. Hey, you said Nick was a musician?**

 **Skye: Yeah. Why?**

 **Jack: Just wonderi-**

Mid-statement, Skye heard a scream, the screech of tires, then a thud. She jerked her head around, missing Jack's 'What's wrong?', but that didn't matter, because what she saw was the only thing that mattered. She saw the light signaling walkers to cross, she saw an old beater stopped in the middle of the road, and she saw her little sister on the ground.

"AURORA!" She ran to her sister as the car pulled off and drove away. Aurora was lying on the ground looking shocked and in pain. Skye saw her paws on her side and she lifted them, revealing a piece of glass lodged in her side. A wine bottle had shattered, and a sizeable shard jabbed into her side, and now she was bleeding profusely.

"S-Skye."

"Hold on, Aurora! Just hold on!" she went to pull the shard out, but recalled that pulling it out would let blood flow out more easily. She applied pressure where she could and looked up to see other mammals looking at the scene. "Don't just stand there! Help me! Call an ambulance!" Then she saw something she couldn't believe.

They walked away.

"No! Come back. Someone! Anyone! Help!" She cried out, tears flowing down her cheeks. Then she heard a familiar voice.

"AURORA!" She heard Nick cry out. He pulled out his phone and dialed as he ran to them. He pulled off his T-shirt and placed it on the wound, and she could hear the responder answer.

"911, what's your emergency?"

"Hello. I-I need an ambulance sent to the meadowlands district immediately! My girlfriend is bleeding out on the street, and I ca-I can't stop the bleeding!"

"Okay sir, I need you to calm down. We'll get you two through this. Can you tell me what street you're on?"

Skye saw Nick look up at the road name. he also looked around and saw no one was helping. She heard him curse under his breath, then put the phone back to his ear.

"We're on Cloverfield Drive."

"Okay sir, we're sending an ambulance. They'll be there shortly. Keep applying pressure to the wound until they get there." Then he clicked off his phone.

"Okay, an ambulance is on its way, but I need you to hold on until then, okay sweetie?"

"N-Nick."

"Just stay with us, okay?"

"Nick."

Skye watched him look at her with fear in his eyes and Aurora weakly placed a bloody paw on his cheek. The blood got on his fur, but she could tell he didn't care.

"I need you to ta-take care of Lily for me, o-okay?"

"No, don't say that. You're gonna be fine." He said as tears began spilling from his eyes. Skye was crying again as well.

"You need to be strong for her. She's gonna n-need her daddy now more than ever."

"No, you need to stay with me. She'll need her mother, too." He said through his sobs and Aurora smiled sadly through her pain.

"I'm dying Nick. You have to be brave for me. Can you pro-promise me you'll take care of our little girl?" Nick continued to sob and he grabbed the paw on his cheek and nodded. "Good. I have to go, but know this: If-if I were given a second chance, I would've done it all over again." Then she looked at Skye. "Ke-keep an eye on him for me, o-okay?" Skye sobbed and nodded. "You were th-the best older sister anyone could ever ask for. Go live your life, Skye. Show the world your gift." She at both of them one more time, and as the sirens could be heard, she smiled once more.

"I love you both."

Then her eyes closed and her paw slipped away from Nick's cheek. Though the sirens were getting increasingly louder, it seemed to both Nick and Skye that there was nothing but silence.

"Aurora?" Nick's voice was shaky and dry. Then Skye began sobbing uncontrollably. "Nonononono, Aurora, stay with me! Stay with me, baby!" He cried out as the paramedics stepped from the vehicle and walked to them. A lionness paramedic checked Aurora's pulse, then turned to her partner and nodded. The rhino, pulled out a gurney and they gently lifted her onto it. They loaded her into the ambulance and Nick and Skye followed behind them. The doors closed and the ambulance began bounding toward the Zootopian General Hospital.

What they didn't know was that they would be too late to save her.

* * *

 **1 hour later.**

Skye was a mess. Her eyes were red from crying, her paws were stained with her sister's blood and so were her clothes. But as bad as she looked, Nick looked worse. His eyes were equally red, and he was shirtless. His cheek was still stained with blood and he was still holding the blood-soaked shirt he used to try to save Aurora with. His fur was ruffled, and his expression was a combination of emptiness and despair. It had been 45 minutes since Aurora was declared dead. They had both contacted their parents to let them know. Nick's parents broke down in tears, but Skye's only gave her an apathetic _"Oh, that's a shame."_.

"' _That's a shame'!? She's your daughter! And now she's DEAD! You could show at least a little bit of sympathy!"_ was her response. _"You know what? I don't even know why I even bothered calling you! You two never fail and disappointing me!"_

A beat cop named Benjamin Clawhauser had come to log some reports, and even the Chief of Police Adrian Bogo had paid a visit.

"Mr. Wilde, Ms. Steppedfurd, I'm Adrian Bogo, the Chief of Police. I apologize for your loss."

"Thank you, sir."

"What's the Chief of Police doing here?" It was the first time Skye had heard Nick speak. His voice was dry and cracked and his tone was callous. She looked at him and saw that he still looked tranced, as if his voice wasn't his own.

"Nick."

"No, it's fine ma'am." Bogo assured her, then turned to him. "I knew your mother and father well before you were born. They called me and I decided to come. If you would excuse my forwardness, I'm well accustomed to the feeling of losing loved ones. I lost a daughter to the same fate 2 years ago."

"I'm sorry." Katie stated

"It's fine. It's in the past." Then Clawhauser had entered the room.

"Ms. Steppefurd, Mr. Wilde. I'm _SO_ sorry for your loss." They nodded to him. "I need just a few more facts, and we'll be done."

"Okay."

"The paramedics said that there was no car when they made it to the scene. Can you tell me what happened?"

"He drove off."

"Like a coward." Nick added.

"Chief, that makes this a felony hit-and-run, then. Do you remember what he looked like?"

"It was a weasel. He was driving an old torn-up beater."

"Did you happen to catch the license plate?"

"No, I didn't."

"That's alright. We'll make do with what we have." Benjamin nodded to Bogo and left the room.

"We'll find him. I promise you both." Bogo motioned to leave the room but then Nick piped up.

"Does it ever get easier?" He turned around, sighed deeply and looked at the exhausted fox.

"Do you mean 'Does the pain ever go away'?" There was a pause, then Bogo shook his head. "No, it doesn't, but you learn to keep moving."

"… Thanks." His voice was a little louder than a whisper, but Bogo caught it. He nodded and exited the room.

* * *

 ** _Decidious Domain, present_**

"They were good on their word, too. The weasel, Duke Weaselton, was caught and arrested. He left the scene because he was a criminal, and if they found him at the scene, he would've been arrested. He's serving time for his past crimes as well as the one against my sister." She looked over at Judy, who was now trying really, _really_ hard not to cry. They were sitting on a bench, eating Italian ice while Lily was playing with a butterfly.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to make you relive that."

"No it's fine. Bogo was right: It's still hurts, but I know she's in a better place now. Besides, a lot of good also came from that day. We put a bad mammal behind bars and we made friends in the ZPD."

"Bad things happen." Katie spoke. "And they _are_ bad, but that doesn't mean that good things can't come from them."

Judy wiped her eyes and smiled. Never in her life had she ever met such a broken group of mammals. They had been beaten battered and abused, yet they continued to keep moving forward. These were mammals that she aspired to be like one day.

Her phone buzzed, and she pulled it out. It was Nick. _Nick? What's he texting me for?_ He hadn't spoken to her at all unless he absolutely had to in the past three days she'd been back. She slid it open.

 _ **Nick: Need you back at the house ASAP.**_

"Who is it?" Katie asked.

"It's Nick. He needs me back at the house."

"Well, I guess we've been out long enough. We can all head back."

* * *

As Judy and the others entered the house, she saw the guys running around shouting around the house.

"Noah, where are my keys!"

"Kitchen Counter! Joey where're my papers!"

"I've got 'em. Where's Nick!"

"Downstairs! Come on, we gotta go!" Nick came walking into the front room. "There you are. Come on, we need to get going."

"What's going on, Nick?"

"Peace rallies. Zootopian musicians are leading them all over the city. This is our biggest one yet, though. A bunch of musicians, ourselves included, are leading it. Gazelle, Kanine West, Memoranda, _and_ your brother'll be there." Judy hadn't talked to her brother since she left Zootopia, so it would be nice to see him again. "So are you ready to go or not?" Nick's tone was a little bitter, but Judy paid no heed and nodded.

"Alright, then we need to go, like…" He lifted his paw up and looked at his watch. "NOW! GUYS WE GOTTA GO!"

* * *

 _Wow, this is a really big rally._ Judy's eyes went wide when saw the number of mammals. It seemed almost as if half the city was here. It was bigger than the ones she saw on T.V when her parents thought she wasn't watching. Predators were already walking around with signs that read _'We Want Equality'_ or _'Hate Is Not a Family Value'_. Though the signs were held by dominantly predatory animals, there were also some prey standing alongside them, protesting just as loud. Among them was Judy's brother, Nathan.

"Nate!" She called out, and he turned to the voice and smiled when he saw Judy.

"Jude!" He ran to her and wrapped her in a hug. Then he pulled away. "Wait. I thought you went home?"

"I did. But I decided that I caused this problem, so I should do whatever I can to fix it." He smiled and lightly ruffled the fur on her head.

"Good to hear, little sis."

"Cottontail!" They turned to see Finnick gesturing toward the back of the stand.

"Get going." She turned back to him. "It's you guys' turn to lead this one. The others and I are simply here to keep protesting." She smiled and gave him a quick hug around the neck, then ran to Finnick.

"So, what're we doing?"

"We're leading tonight."

" _All_ of us?"

"Not really. It's mostly Nick. We voted that he should be the one to do it. We're there to back him up."  
He held his hand out towards the back stairs onto the stage. She walked up them and found herself in front of hundreds of faces. Nick and Noah were off to the side, talking about something she couldn't hear and Joey was sitting in a chair. His eyes were closed and he was muttering something and holding a cross necklace in his hands. She walked up and sat down in the empty chair next to him. He opened his eyes and clasped the necklace around his neck.

"I didn't know you were a religious guy."

"I'm not." She tilted her head in confusion and he cleared his throat. "Pharisees were religious. I'm just a guy who believes in a God and follows Him."

"Isn't God against this kind of stuff though?"

"No." He stood up and stretched his arms. "Even if he was though, It's not my job to judge people for their beliefs. My job is to show love to them. Do I accept all beliefs? No; that's impossible, but do I tolerate all of them? Sure." They were silent for a while as they overlooked the rally. Then Judy spoke up.

"Sooo what do the rally leaders do?"

"For the most part, we just look over the rally and make sure that it doesn't get too violent, but sometimes we speak to them." He glanced over at Nick. "Nick's probably gonna have to speak tonight." Judy looked at Nick as he began walking over to them.

"You good?"

"Yeah. I was just explaining to Judy what rally leaders do."

"He thinks we might have to speak tonight."

"You're not gonna say anything." Nick's tone was a little harsh, but he caught himself when he saw Judy flinch. "Sorry. I didn't mean to snap. I'm just a little anxious is all. Just let me handle it, ok?" Judy slowed her heartbeat and nodded.

Before Nick could say anything else, he heard something loud behind him. He turned to see a sign ablaze, sitting on the pavement. A zebra and a tiger were growling at one another, shouting at one another, and Nick could tell things were about to get ugly.

"Why can't you just leave us alone!?"

"Maybe it's because I don't feel SAFE around you!"

"Why not!? Can't you see that we'RE ALL THE SAME!?"

"WE ARE _NOT_ THE SAME!"

"Why don't both of yOU SHUT UP!"

The entire crowd turned to look at Nick. His eyes were angry and his teeth were bared.

"We are NOT the same!" He hopped down and the others followed suit. Judy followed behind and watched Nick grab the now-charred sign. The crowd made a hole around the group. Judy strained her eyes to read the sign. It read _'We're all the same'_.

"I am a fox! I am a predator. My ancestors used to EAT prey! There's no use denying it!" He tore the sign down the middle, ashes escaping into the air. "But THIS…" He turned around, his hands gesturing to the city around them. "is NOT the Stone Ages! We're better than this. We are a RICH, DIVERSE and BEATIFUL city! I see no reason to change that!

"We are bunnies, foxes, tigers, pandas, wolves, tapirs, sheep, goats and SO much more! We shouldn't water down those differences. We should CELEBRATE them! Didn't you hear Memoranda last week! He said _'You see my fur, and I see yours. and they are beautiful, fearfully and wonderfully, divinely designed. Uniqueness._ _Shouldn't we celebrate that rather than act like it ain't there?'_ We need to spend less time chastising each other for our differences! Those differences are what make us beautiful! If we don't start loving one another, we'll tear each other apart." After that statement, the rally fell silent. Judy saw Nick and could tell he was exhausted. Her eyes were tearing up, but she quickly wiped them away. Then her phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out and the caller id showed it was Clawhauser. She tapped answer and put the phone to her ear.

 **Judy: Hey Ben.**

 **Clawhauser: Oh thank God! Judy are you with Nick?** Clawhauser sounded worried.

 **Judy: Yeah. We're at the Peace Rally in Central Park. What's wrong?**

 **Clawhauser: You need to get Nick out of there, NOW!**

 **Judy: Why, what's going on?**

 **Clawhauser: We followed the lead and it lead us to Mayoress Bellwether. We arrested her, but she had an accomplice. He's a sheep named Doug. She tasked him with shooting Nick with the Night Howler serum. He's probably there now!**

Judy pulled the phone away from her ears and looked around the park. She saw several sheep, but her eyes set on one who was making his way through the crowd, fishing something out of his coat. He was walking towards Nick.

 _I have to warn him!_

She motioned to yell at him, but then she realized that she couldn't do it without also alerting 'Doug'.

 _What am I supposed to do? He's gonna infect Nick!_ Her mind flashed to all the things Nick had been through.

The Ranger Scouts.

Aurora.

Her own betrayal.

 _No._

 _I'm NOT gonna letting this happen to him._

 _Not to him._

And in a moment of impulsiveness. She ran forward.

Doug had finally made it through the crowd and revealed a gun which he pointed at Nick. He pulled the trigger, but before the bullet could land, a lone bunny had pushed Nick out of the way.

And the serum shot hit her instead.

* * *

 **Flapjack: Oh God no!**

 **Fluff: What have you done!?**

 **Flapjack: I'M SORRY!**

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Fluff: Hey everyone! So here's our really dark chapter we warned y'all about.**

 **Flapjack: We hope we hit you with the feels a good bit. This is not the last time that we'll see Aurora. She plays a big part in a lot of Nick's decisions, so we'll hear about her and** _ **from**_ **her again in later chapters.**

 **Fluff: Okay! Chapter Notes!**

 **Flapjack: alright. First off, we understand that there are 4,000+ words in this chapter and we aren't even gonna apologize for it. We got carried away on this chapter, but we decided to leave it as it is.**

 **Fluff: Next up, artist notes! As we've said before, Gazelle is Shakira and Kanine West is Kanye West. Memoranda is a Christian rapper/poet called Propaganda. We decided Memoranda would be his 'alternate' due to a spoof in his** _ **Crimson Cord**_ **album.**

 **Flapjack: Speaking of Christian stuff, I should probably explain Joey's theological standing. For those who don't know, Joey is my personal character. I AM a Christian, and those are my beliefs. I apologize on behalf of all prejudiced 'christians' and the way they act. I promise Jesus would NOT act like that. Do I accept all beliefs? No I do not. It's physically impossible to accept all beliefs without becoming a walking contradiction. However, I tolerate all beliefs, and I accept the fact that people have them.**

 **Fluff: I'm a Christian as well, which is why we went and edited our chapters and stopped using profanity. It's a pretty recent change, but don't worry, all you sensitive people; This is the most theological that we'll get.**

 **Flapjack: Every now and then, you'll see Joey pray or something, but we won't bash you guys with our beliefs. We Promise.**

 **Fluff: Okay, what else?... Ooh, Nick's stance on diversity: For the longest time, Flapjack and I believed that if we spent less time looking at our differences and more time looking at our similarities, we'd get along better.**

 **Flapjack: But then we realized that we were wrong. What's wrong with difference? Nothing. We were all created differently. Different sizes, different colors, different languages, different cultures, different traditions. We shouldn't look at those differences as a bad thing, but instead celebrate them.**

 **Fluff: Finally, the story as a whole: this fiction is mostly Nick and Judy centric, but we're telling the story of the BAND as a whole as well as those it influences. So you'll get chapters that focus a bit more on some of the other characters as well.**

 **Flapjack: Also, since this story is gonna be as large as it is, it's set up in arcs with drabble sessions between them. Right now, we're in the Humble Beginnings Arc, but we'll be finishing up the arc hopefully soon.**

 **Fluff: Next chapter is gonna be mostly Nick centric. There's gonna be a lot of reflection and soul searching, so we might get a little deep in the next chapter.**

 **Flapjack:** **that's about it! We hope you guys 'enjoyed' this chapter. We'll try to get the next one out soon.**

 **Fluff: Hit those fave/ollow buttons. Leave us reviews. PM us. Live happy and healthy. We'll see you guys next time.**


	14. THE BAND'S BAD BUN

**CHAPTER 14: THE BAND'S BAD BUN**

"Clawhauser! How much longer!"

"Just a few more minutes, Chief!"

The plump cheetah was sitting in the driver's seat of the SWAT van, clad in the only gear that 'fit' him. They had busted through the mayor's office and arrested Mayoress Bellwether, but Doug had already received his orders by the time they got there. Now, they were racing to Zootopia Central Park, hoping that they would get there before Doug.

 _Judy, Nick, I hope you guys are okay!_

* * *

In the time that it took for Nick to hit the pavement he was just standing on a moment ago, his mind processed three things.

One: Someone pulled a gun on him.

Two: He heard a gunshot.

And three: …he wasn't dead?

He placed his arms behind him to push his back off the ground. When he did, He saw a sheep standing there, dumbfounded, then he saw in the sheep's hand what looked like a gun pointed at the spot where he was just standing, and then he saw something that terrified him.

"JUDY!" He scrambled to the spot where Judy lay. He searched for the spot where she was shot but instead found a small patch of blue which immediately dissolved into her temple. _What?_ He felt her stir underneath and look at him. Her pupils covered most of her iris, only a small ring of amethyst still visible. _Oh, no._

"The toxic flowers…" He went to pick her up, but she frantically pushed away. He heard an uncharacteristic growl emanate from the bunny. "Carrots I need you to fight it!" He moved closer to her again, but she held out a shaking paw.

"Don't!" He watched her push herself up, then paw at the spot the serum entered. He saw a flash of horror in her eyes, then she looked at him.

"I'm sorry, Nick." Nick saw the last of the amethyst in her eyes disappear, then she was gone. He heard the growl again, then he saw a flash of gray lunge at him.

With unanticipated strength, Judy kicked his midsection, sending him falling backward. It wasn't long before the gray bunny jumped atop of him, violently raking her blunt claws through his skin, leaving long bruises underneath his fur. She used her teeth and bit down on his arms, which he used to try and shove her off of him.

People began revolting. Some panicked, some began yelling, and others moved to restrain Doug. Nick managed to shove Judy off of him, and she growled at him. Nick got on all fours and snarled back, bearing his sharp teeth. Upon view of his teeth, Judy retreated, running further into the park. Nick picked himself up, yelping at the pain in his leg. He looked down to see blood trickling from his calf, and he chuckled to himself bitterly. _So much for being prey, huh?_ He shook himself from his thoughts as the police arrived. Ben _and_ Bogo stepped into the park and approached Nick.

"Nick, are you alright?"

"Not really, but I'm not worried about that." Nick glanced toward the direction where Judy had run off. She had run in the direction of the park bench where she had talked with Katie and Nathan. Could it be a coincidence? _Or was it a conscious decision?_

"I need to find Judy." He said without turning around. "She was hit by the serum." He heard Clawhauser gasp and Bogo groan in frustration.

"Alright, squads! We are going to comb the area. Be on the lookout for an infected gray bunny! Do not shoot to kill! Tranqs only! Understood!?"

"Yessir!" He heard the officers reply in unison.

"Nick, did you see which Judy ran?"

"Actually, I think I might know where she is."

* * *

 _Where am I?_ Judy felt cold. She felt something like electricity course from the tips of her ears down to the digits of her feet. She also felt something else: Not quite lust, nor anger, nor exhilaration.

Something Carnal.

She tried to move her arms to her head, only to realize that she had little to no control of her body. It was as if she were catching a ride in someone else's body, only allowed to make small actions. She managed to turn her head left and right, and in that time, she managed to get her bearings.

 _I'm at that park bench… in the picnic grounds._

She heard rustling and she felt her all the muscles in her body tense up. She jerked around and saw Nick make his way through a patch of bushes.

"Hey there, Carrots." His voice, which normally was smooth as silk, sounded harsh and shrill coming through her ears. Her mouth growled uncontrollably, and Judy tried her best to resist.

 _Stop it! Nick is your friend!_

Her pleas amounted to nothing and she felt her body tense up, preparing to lunge at Nick.

 _NO!_

She felt her legs spring forward and her blunt claws reached for Nick's neck, but then she felt a swift movement followed by the feeling of cool pawpads wrap around her arms. Nick grasped her and slammed her up against a nearby tree, and she lost her breath from the contact. He locked her in place and wrapped his legs around hers, using his knees to pin her against the tree. He was a breath away from her and he growled at her, to which she growled back.

"Carrots." She growled again, and she felt Nick's grip tighten. Then, she saw Nick's features soften.

"… Judy." Her consciousness, which had been continuing to try to resist her primal behaviors finally gained a bit of control and she stopped growling. "I know you're in there. I know it's hard, but I need you to fight it. You can do it."

Judy's struggling lessen bit by bit as more of Judy's consciousness continued to gain control.

 _Don't hurt him._

"N-N-Nick." She felt more of her body loosen up, then she saw Clawhauser approach them.

"Be-Benji?"

"I'm here, Jude. We're gonna take care of you."

Nick's grip tightened a little more, and Judy looked at him, her pupils still covering her iris. "Nick?"

"They're gonna have to tranq you, Carrots."

For a second, she felt the carnal behavior take over again, but she continued to struggle and push it down. It was a hard battle and she found herself losing control again. She strained to nod.

"Do it."

She felt a quick prick in her upper arm, then everything began to fade to black. The last thing she saw before she slipped away was Nick's eyes, but for the first time since she had been back,

They were soft.

* * *

Judy drifted into sleep, and Nick picked her up into his arms. Clawhauser approached them and gently pulled the tranquilizer dart out of her arm. They carried her back to the park center and loaded her into an ambulance, which sped off in the direction of the ZGH.

Nick turned back and saw Doug, who was standing between two officers, his hooves cuffed together. He saw him sport a smug grin, one that Nick used often when he felt as though he got what he wanted. The already boiling anger inside of him made its extravagant debut when he rushed the sheep, wrapping a paw around his neck and forcing him to the ground. He placed a knee on Doug's chest and began pounding his face with his other free paw.

"SHE WAS INNOCENT!" He yelled as he continued beating him. His pupils were reduced to a small dot in the middle of a ghostly emerald and his teeth were bared.

"HEARTLESS!" Another blow.

"DISGUSTING!" He could hear the guys as well as officers begging for him to stop.

"MONSTER!"

"NICK! THAT'S ENOUGH!" He heard Finnick plea, then he felt a paw grab his fist which was reeled to deliver another blow. He jerked his head around, preparing to direct the blow at the mammal who stopped him, but he stopped when he saw that it was Skye.

"You're going to kill him if you don't stop." Her voice was soft and he could hear the worry in his voice. He turned back to Doug. The smug grin was gone, and instead, a terrified expression donned his battered, bloody face. He released his throat and the Doug began gasping for breath as well as coughing up blood.

"He's not worth it." She continued, and Nick loosened up. "That bunny needs you right now. Don't waste your time on _him_ when you could be there for _her_."

Nick closed his eyes, took a deep sigh, then looked to Bogo.

"I need a ride." Bogo nodded.

"We'll get you there."

* * *

 _ **Zootopia General Hospital**_

Nick and the guys made it to the hospital and practically tore it apart in search for Judy, however, when a doctor saw Nick's injuries, she forced him into a room for treatment, so now, he was sitting in a room with white gauze covers wrapped around his leg and adhesive bandages left and right. He wasn't allowed to walk on the leg until the doctor came back, which would have been fine since Judy's kick left him with a couple of bruised ribs. The problem was that he was alone in the quiet, so he was confined to his thoughts.

He tried his best to push them down, but there were no distractions left.

 _I have these thoughts, so often I ought_ _  
_ _To replace that slot with what I once bought_ _  
_ _'Cause somebody stole my car radio_ _  
_ _And now I just sit in silence_

Those words rang in his head and he tried to shake them off. He had finished the song 2 days ago, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to ever sing that song in public.

There were several songs that he had written that he never considered letting people hear. Among those were _Car Radio_ and _Trade Mistakes_ , his most recent song and his most recent.

 _Trade Mistakes_ was simply too hard for him to sing. He did it once to himself, but never again. It was too painful for him to think about his time with Aurora.

 _Car Radio_ was written as a confession to himself. He never liked being left alone with his thoughts, because that meant addressing his problems and his questions.

But the problem remained that he _was_ alone, only his thoughts and inner-arguments to keep him company. The guys had gone back to the peace rally to clean up and Judy was a floor above him.

Then there was a knock at the door.

"Mr. Wilde?"

"Yes?"

In came a golden Irish Setter whom Nick identified as his doctor, Sasha Baker.

"Hi, Mr. Wilde. How're you feeling?"

"Much better, thanks." He smiled genuinely. "And you can just call me Nick. Mr. Wilde feels a little awkward."

"Alright then, Nick. You should be good to walk around for a while."

"Does that mean I can visit someone?"

"Well, that depends on who you are visiting."

"Her name is Judy Hopps. She was just admi-"

"Admitted to the psych ward a floor above us. I know. My husband is treating her." She shrugged apologetically. "Sadly, I can't legally let you up there."

"Please." Nick's eyes were just as begging as his voice was. "She's up there because of me. I just wanna help."

He saw Sasha think it over, then shook her head. "I'm sorry, Nick, but I can't _legally_ let you up there." Nick tilted his head in confusion. "But, if you were to, say, sneak up there, then there's nothing I could do, now, is there?" He smiled brightly and slipped off of the bed. Ignoring the slight stinging pain in his leg, he made his way to the door, only to hear Sasha clear her throat.

He turned his head around and she pointed downward. He gazed down and realized that he was still wearing a hospital gown… with his entire backside completely visible. He laughed nervously and she gestured toward the side-desk of the bed.

There lied a pair of faded blue jeans, yellow boxers and a white t-shirt the guys left for him.

"I'll leave you to change into your clothes." She left through the door, but then poked her head back in and poked his head. "You will not speak a word of this to any of the other nurses, okay? As far as they're concerned, you've been cleared to leave and I sent you home."

Another nervous laugh emanated from the fox. She reminded him a bit of his mother. "Yes, ma'am." She began leaving and he poked his head out of the room. "And thank you."

She nodded and he went back into the room and began changing into his clothes.

Several grunts and yelps of pain later, he managed to get fully changed. Though he said he was feeling better (which he was telling the truth about), it wasn't by much.

 _That bunny would probably make even Joey nervous._

He smirked at the thought of Joey frantically running away from Judy during a sparring match.

After he grabbed his notebook, his phone, and his pick, he turned the room light off and left for the upper room.

* * *

Nick made it to the floor above his and stepped into the hallway. He was immediately taken back by the number of nurses and doctors rushing left and right, stacks of papers in their paws

Officer Fangmeyer, who was charged with booking Doug, had submitted the serum propeller into evidence, but not before finding a singular serum pellet still in the chamber. They sent it to the psych ward at the ZGM and they began working on a serum immediately.

He made his way down the hall, looking at the room numbers.

 _Which one was she in?_

He remembered asking the front desk, and they said that she was admitted to room C…

"C-24" He read aloud. He quickly knocked on the door and entered the room.

He saw Judy lying unconscious on the bed, her fur ruffled and messy. He also saw a German Shepherd checking her vitals. The doctor turned to look at him and Nick read his nametag: Charlie Baker.

"Sorry, I know I'm not supposed to be here, but-"

"No, It's fine. I'm assuming you're the fox my wife told me about." He held out a paw which Nick shook. "It's a Pleasure, Mr. Wilde."

"Just Nick is fine." He looked over at Judy. "How is she?"

"As good as an infected bunny can be. She's not dying, but her hormonal balance is way out of proportion."

"Anything I can do to help?"

"Sure, I can't be around at all times, so if you could keep an eye on her when I'm gone that'd be great." Charlie grabbed a panic button and placed it in Nicks paw. "If anything happens, push this button, and I'll be alerted."

"Alright."

"Other than that, she's been fighting a fever since she got here, so if she started groaning or tossing around, there's a towel and bucket in the cupboard. I'm assuming you know what to do?"

"Yeah, I've fought my fair share of Fevers."

"Alright, other than that, that should be about it." Then there was a voice over the intercom.

" _Doctor Baker, you're presence is needed in room C-46."_

Charlie clicked his tongue and pointed toward the door.

"That would be my cue. I'll be back."

"We'll be fine."

And with that, Charlie as was gone. Nick pulled up a chair next to Judy's bed and plopped into it, earning a yelp of pain from his ribs and the bruises on his back. He stared at the ruffled gray ball of fur laying on the bed and sighed.

Once again, Nick was sitting in silence and his mind began to wander again.

He began reflecting on his life since he met this bunny.

When they first met, she was this spite-fire, determined 'Don't tell me what to do' kinda girl, and it was slightly amusing (and slightly annoying). Then he began to open up to her a bit. For some reason, he decided to tell her about Aurora and the Scouts.

Then they became close. Closer than he normally liked. He began to trust her. She was still bubbly and excitable, but she also became kind and caring. He hadn't been able to open up to many people before, so it was a new and kinda pleasant feeling to him.

And then she screwed it all up.

Nick had never known he could process 3 different emotions at the same time before, but he did that night. He was furious with her, but also disappointed and devastated. The next month was simply a bad month for him. So much anger and sorrow built up in him and it was hard to live in the apartment without having some memory of that bunny they met only a couple of weeks ago.

Maybe that was why he moved out.

Then she came back and a part of him was happy and… hopeful? But of course, the hardened part of his soul didn't wanna let go of the fact that she hurt him. So he decided to avoid her altogether. But no, she had to go and be a hero. Now she was here, infected, restrained to a hospital bed… with a fever.

 _That idiot…_

He pinched the bridge of his snout in frustration.

 _Why did she have to go do something like that!_

 _Why don't you swallow for freakin' pride for once, huh?_

The contradicting voice was so clear, he looked around the room to see if someone was there, then slapped his head when he realized it was his own thoughts. He began realizing that his argumentative thoughts resembled the personality of Finnick.

 _That's 'cause he's the only one who really doesn't put up with your wishy-washy crap._

 _You mean YOUR wishy-washy crap?_

 _Same Difference. Anyways, back on topic. Stop blaming Judy._

 _Why? She shouldn't have done that. She owes me nothing._

 _So what? She's your friend._

 _She's not my friend._

 _Quit being stupid. If she didn't matter to you, why'd you chase after her?_

…

 _And why'd you beat that sheep to a pulp?_

…

 _And why'd you tear the hospital apart, looking for her-_

 _Alright, alright! I get it!_

 _Fina-freakin'-ly!_

 _Still, doesn't explain why she'd do something so stupid._

 _Wake up moron! You told her your story!_

 _So?_

 _She knows how much you've suffered. She knew you were about to be infected. You: a fox with sharp canines and claws. If you had been shot and torn someone up – which you would've – do you think you'd ever forgive yourself?_

… _No._

 _Eeeeexactly. She didn't want you to suffer any more than you already have. She put your well-being before her own, ya self-righteous jerk._

Nick's inner argument left him grief-stricken. Here was this bunny, who was moving Heaven and Earth to fix the mess she created, including her relationship with him, and he wouldn't even give her the time of day.

 _I've really made a mess of this, haven't I?_

At that moment, Judy began to stir in her head. Her brow furrowed and she began groaning in pain. Nick went to the cabinet and grabbed the towel and bucket. He filled the bucket and dunked the towel in it. He walked back to Judy, wrung the towel a bit and lightly dabbed her forehead. The groaning stopped and he saw the bunny's muscles loosen.

 _She'd probably take my arm off if she were awake right now._

He smirked at the thought then faded into a warm smile.

 _I've got ya, Carrots. You're gonna be fine._

* * *

Judy couldn't quite describe how she felt when she woke up. The Burning-Freezing sensation was gone, so that was good. However, a splitting headache replaced it. She felt as though someone had taken a jackhammer to her temples. She opened her eyes only to shut them again. She let out a yelp of pain at the sting of pain that light brought.

"Oh, you're awake!"

Judy groaned in pain at the voice which thundered in her ears.

"Oops, sorry. I forgot." The voice was not as loud, but still fairly painful. "Your senses are going to be a bit over-reactive for a few seconds, but don't worry, they'll return to normal."

She dared open her eyes a second time. The light was still painful, but it was getting better. She looked around the room to see a German shepherd in a doctor's coat.

"Good morning, Ms. Hopps. I'm doctor Charlie Baker. Do you know where you are?"

"mmm…" was her response, it took her a second to finally regain the ability to form words. "… no."

"You're at the Zootopian General Hospital. Do you remember what happened?"

Judy began recalling all of the events. The call from Clawhauser, Doug, the serum.

"I was infected."

"Yes. You were infected and you were brought here."

"How long have I been out?"

"3 days now."

Judy's eyes went wide. 3 days had gone by? She felt as though it had been a couple of hours.

 _Nick must be worried sick…_

Then the realization hit her.

 _Nick!_

"There was a fox there. His name was-"

"Nick Wilde?"

"Y-yes." Her head tilted in confusion. Charlie chuckled softly and gestured to a spot on the bed. Judy turned her head to look at the spot and was surprised at what she saw.

Nick was sitting in a chair next to her. His arms were crossed and laying on the bed, his head resting on top of them. His fur was a bit ruffled, his eyes had dark rings under them and his arms and face were occupied by a few adhesive bandages

"He's been here taking care of you since you were admitted. You had a fever while you were under, and he's been at your side, caring for you. Any time I told him to get some rest, he refused, opting to stay awake to look after you." Her brow furrowed and she smiled empathetically. "He just finally closed his eyes. This must be the first time he's slept in the past 3 days."

Judy She reached out and pet his head gently and she saw him smiled a bit and shift.

 _Oh, Nick._

"You've got a good friend there."

She smiled and continued petting his head.

"Yeah, I do."

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Fluff: AH!**

 **Flapjack: Perfect. Hey, guys, it's Flapjack and Fluff here, and today we bring yoU AN ALL NEW FREAKING CHAPTER! [Fireworks. Cheering. Confetti]**

 **Fluff: Sorry it took us so long, but we were enjoying Thanksgiving with our families. So we hoped you enjoyed this all-new chapter we just posted. It's amazing to see how much our writing has improved since our first chapter.**

 **Flapjack: Anyways, we've got some notes: Charlie Baker and Sasha La fluer Baker are characters from one of our favorite movies, _All Dogs Go To Heaven 1 & 2_.**

 **Fluff: Trade Mistakes is by _Panic! at the Disco_ , Car Radio is by _Twenty One Pilots._**

 **Flapjack: We're getting close to the end of this arc, so we wanna know, do you want us to go straight into the next arc, or do a couple short stories between?**

 **Fluff: That's pretty much it. We'll try to get the next chapter out to you guys as soon as possible.**

 **Flapjack: But until then, we'll leave you with a bit of a respite from the tension. See you guys next time.**


	15. BACK TO NORMAL

**Flapjack: Hey guys, it's just me today. Fluff is sick again, which means that I'm probably gonna get sick, too. But until then, I bring you another chapter! The song** _ **Claire De Lune**_ **by Claude Debussy is in this chapter, so you can listen to it while reading if you want.**

 **Alright, let's get to it.**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 15: BACK TO NORMAL (for lack of a better name)**

Judy was still petting Nick's head when Doctor Baker left the room. The doctors had made an antidote just hours ago and began administering it to the infected mammals immediately. She was one of the last to be administered and the rest of the missing mammals were now being brought up to speed on what had happened. Among them was Emmitt Otterton, and Judy had requested that Olivia Otterton be called.

That was when Charlie nodded and left Judy alone with the sleeping fox on her bedside. She ran her paw over his ears and scratched the base of them. He shivered a bit and smiled, letting out a satisfied groan of approval. She smiled softly at him. She had never seen this side of Nick; His features were soft, peaceful, vulnerable.

Kind.

 _But will that be the same fox that wakes up?_

As much as she wanted to shove it to the back of her head, the question made its grand debut in the front of her mind, where it couldn't be ignored. Judy would be ignorant if she didn't think about the way he would act when he woke up.

 _Well, he did take care of you while you were out._

 _Sure, but what if it was out of pity, not concern._

 _Give him some credit, Jude. You two used to be close._

 _Yeah, 'USED to be' being the key phrase in that sentence._

 _You're being intransigent._

 _You're me! You're arguing with yourself!_

Judy was pulled from her internal argument when she felt Nick stir underneath her paw. She withdrew it quickly as Nick's eyes slowly peeled open. He leaned back in his chair and wiped the sleep from his eyes. Then looked in her direction.

The moment he saw Judy awake and alive, his eyes widened and his lips parted slightly in disbelief.

"Judy…"

"Hey there, Slick." She quipped, trying to mask her nervousness. "How've ya be-"

She was cut off by Nick, who had rushed over and wrapped the small rabbit in his arms. The hug was fairly tight, and Judy was still fairly sore, but that didn't matter because of what he said next.

"Never do that to me again."

Judy's eyes widened and glossed over and she wrapped her arms around him.

"And let you be hurt _again_? Not gonna happen, Nick."

Nick pulled away from her. His eyes were glassy and he dared not blink for fear of letting tears spill. His paw reached and stroked her left cheek. Then he froze when he felt something weird.

On her cheek, he felt three streaks across it where the fur was slightly shorter and the skin beneath it was rougher. His mind brought him back to the nightmare he had 2 months ago, in which he lashed out at her. Had he actually struck her and just buried the memory? The thought scared him.

"Where did you get these scars, Judy?"

"Oh, I've had those since I was a kid. There was this fox named Gideon who was a bit of a bully. One day I stood up to him and he kinda… y'know."

Nick's fear was replaced with anger as the thought of a fox hurting his friend entered his mind, his paws clenched into fists, only to loosen again as he felt Judy's paws cover them.

"It was a long time ago, Nick. Besides, he's a pretty nice guy now. He runs a bakery in my hometown."

Nick let out a sigh and calmed down. Judy was right: There's no reason to fret about the past. Nick had a bad habit of holding grudges, which he needed to fix.

 _As a matter of fact, I think I'll start now._

"Listen, Carrots, I need to apologize to you." Judy's head tilted a bit in confusion and Nick continued. "When you came back, I told you I had forgiven you, but I don't think I was being honest. I was still really angry, and yet a part of me just wanted to be happy that you came back. I should have just listened to that voice and just been grateful that you came back, so I'm sorry that I was so cold to you when you came back."

"Nick, it's okay."

"No, it's not." He retorted. "I've spent the past few years of my life refusing to open up to anyone, and then you come along, and I finally start opening up. But then I decided to crawl back into my insecurities when the going got tough even when I should've moved on like a good friend would hav-"

"Hey." Judy cupped his face with her paws and looked into his eyes. The thought of what those eyes had been through resonated in her mind. Those emerald eyes had witnessed love, death, heartbreak, struggling, joy, sadness, sorrow and so much more. "Everyone makes mistakes. I mean look at me. You may have given up on our friendship, but I'm the one who messed it up in the first place. The point is: We aren't perfect, but so what! No one's perfect. Everyone makes mistakes. It's what we do after we make them that defines us."

There was a moment of silence, then Nick closed his eyes, let out a sigh, and gently pulled her paws off of his face.

"Do you have any idea how cheesy that sounded, cottontail?"

They both laughed at the comment, completely oblivious to the mammal that entered the room.

"So I see you two have made up."

Nick and Judy turned to see two otters faces in the doorway, and they smiled.

"Olivia, you're here!"

"Yes, I came as soon as I got the call from your doctor."

Nick turned to Judy in confusion.

"You called Olivia?"

"Of course she did. She's not the only one awake you know." Nick then saw another otter, walk through the door and his face lit up. He walked over and gave the otter a warm hug.

"It's good to see you, Emmitt."

"The same to you, Nicholas."

They all sat down in the room and conversed for what seemed like hours before both Sasha and Charlie entered the room.

"So I see that you're all awake."

"Sasha!" Nick pulled her into a warm hug then let go. "Sorry, I'm just in a _really_ good mood right now."

"Well, I'm sure that the four of you would be in an even better mood if you were not in this hospital."

"We're allowed to leave?"

"Oh yeah. After Miss Hopps here is cleared, you're all free to be on your way." Charlie stated, pulling out a stethoscope.

"Well, what're we waiting for, the sooner I'm out of this hospital gown, the better."

* * *

"Well, Nick, it's been a ride." Charlie held out his hand, which Nick shook gratefully.

"Yes, it has. Thanks, you two, for letting me stick around."

"No problem. We'd say come back soon, buuuuutttt that wouldn't be very appropriate, I guess." Sasha quipped earning a couple of chuckles from the group. "But seriously, though, you guys have fun. Maybe we'll see each other again sometime."

"For sure! We'll see ya around." Nick gave one last wave as he walked off with Judy and the Ottertons.

Sasha sighed in contentment and leaned her head against Charlie's shoulder.

"They seemed nice."

"Yeah, albeit clueless."

"Definitely. Oh well, maybe one day they'll see it."

* * *

Nick Wilde had remained quiet the entire drive home, mostly due to pensiveness. Over the past few months. He had gone from hating the little bunny sitting next to him, to being relieved yet angry that she'd returned, to being afraid for her safety, to being angry at her again, then to being angry at himself. Now, he felt as though he were in a limbo stage between emotions. She'd forgiven him, but he could tell by her scent she was still worried and… afraid of him?

 _Yeah, that needs to be fixed._

They'd made it home, and Nick had gotten out and walked to the front door and waited for Judy. When they opened the door, they were immediately greeted by the band, Lily, Katie, Skye and Jack.

"JUDY!" came their collective reply as they crowded around her, giving hugs and laughing. Judy, though still being sore, welcomed all of it with reckless abandon and tears of joy. After everyone had settled back down, they'd all gathered around the dinner table for a meal, leaving any lingering negativity behind.

* * *

The food Noah had prepared was long gone, and now the group was cleaning up. After being told several times to let them handle it, Judy resided to walking throughout the house. She had been in the house for 3 days before the incident, but she hadn't really seen much of it.

The home _was_ beautiful. The warm yellow paint on the walls wasn't solid, as if whoever painted them didn't follow a certain painting method and did whatever they pleased, leaving a wavy texture to it. The walls also switched between the drywall and weathered brick. Lights were strung here and there, giving a fairly unconventional look to the house, yet it worked. Most of the furniture was older, and she remembered several of them from their old apartment. All in all, it was a very warm and welcoming estate.

As she continued to walk through the house, she heard something faint coming from the music room. She began walking closer to the room to get a better bearing on what was being played.

Though muffled, it wasn't hard for her to hear the voice of a grand piano ringing through the room. The piano's voice was full and earnest, and once she opened the doors to the music room, she could depict the notes of _Clair De Lune_ being played.

She remembered the piece all-too-well. It was the first piece she learned, also her favorite. Or at least it was; nowadays it only served as a bitter reminder of how she betrayed her friends' trust.

She watched as the red fox played the piano with the finesse of a master. Eyes closed, fingers gliding on the ivory keys, he was completely enraptured by the music. Judy could only stand there and wonder what was going on. If she remembered right, Nick was on the receiving end of the pain delivered on that day. So how was he sitting there, playing this song?

The last of the notes rung through the room and the red fox took a heavy sigh. Silence filled the room as the bunny and fox remained still. They were only several feet away from one another, but the stillness made it seem like they were thousands of miles apart.

Then the fox turned around. His eyes were tired, his posture heavy, and once again, Judy took in how much he had changed.

Originally, the fox was lanky fox with red silky fur and bright piercing emerald eyes. However, the fox before her was different. He wasn't the scrawny fox she met months ago. Weeks of training with Joey left his body hardened and lean, and his fur was thicker, resembling more of a burnt ochre color. His eyes, while still almost luminescent, seemed softer and mellowed out, becoming more ghostly than piercing. His pawpads had become much more calloused over the past few weeks, and he looked much more tired.

She watched Nick stand up and walk over to her, and her breath hitched. She would be lying if she said that was still afraid of Nick. Sure, he had apologized to her at the hospital, but plenty of people do weird things when they're emotionally unbalanced.

"Do you remember that piece?" The fox's question brought her from her thoughts. She timidly nodded.

"The party and the reporters." She then shook her head. "What is it that you want, Nick?"

"I want you to know what you did to me all those months ago."

And there it was. After all this time, Nicholas Wilde still hated her for her mistake. She had expected it; Had she been in his shoes, she would've felt the same way. She felt her body being to tremble, but she fought the urge to break down and cry. She had done a lot of crying recently, but at this moment, she would be strong. She wasn't going to cry; absolutely not. She…

… broke down in tears.

* * *

Nick wasn't exactly sure what happened. Here he was, with this exceptional bunny, standing over her as she crumpled to the floor in a weeping, sobbing heap, completely dumbfounded by what just happened.

 _What did I say?_

He ran through the scene in his head. He was playing that song, then he walked over to her and talked with her. She'd asked him what he wanted.

" _I want you to know what you did to me all those months ago."_

 _You idiot._

Nick mentally slapped himself: She thought he was still mad at her. He made a mental note to start thinking about what to say before he says it, then sat down on the floor.

"Hey, carrots, that's not what I meant."

"I-I'm so sorry, N-N-Nick!" She managed through her tears. Nick smiled sympathetically and reached out for her. He pulled her into his lap and wrapped his arms around her and she continued to sob into his shirt.

Then the fox felt something. It was a warmth coupled with a twang in his chest. He had felt it before when he was watching her play the piano. He had disregarded it before, but now it intrigued him. He looked down at the bunny who was sobbing into his chest, and wondered what it was about her that made him feel weird, but pushed the thought aside and focused on making her feel better.

"That's not what I meant." His voice was a little louder than a whisper, and he wasn't sure whether she had heard him, but he continued. "I mean, yeah, you really hurt me, but that's the point." Her sobbing softened and she looked up at him, eyes a little puffy and red, then buried her face in his shirt again. "You see, had it been someone else, I would've disregarded them as ignorant or stupid. But the fact of the matter is that _you_ said it. _You_ hurt me, fluff. Don't you see what that means?"

The bunny sniffled a bit and shook her head.

"It means that you are the first person to get to me in years, fluff. You forced my heart open again." He pulled her away from him and looked her in the eyes. "Which is something I thought I closed off for good, years ago." He pulled her into a hug again and he couldn't see Judy's surprised look.

"You coming into our lives… into mine, was one of the best things that ever happened. No, Judy Hopps, _I'm_ the one who's sorry."

He couldn't see it, but Judy smiled, then wrapped her arms around him. They stayed that way for a while, and once again, Nick felt the warm twang again. He shook it off, deciding to deal with it later.

* * *

Skye Steppefurd stood outside of the music room, watching the fox and the bunny inside, and smiled.

 _Well, that's something new._

"Hey, what's going on." She heard Jack ask as he walked up to her. He looked inside and saw the two sitting on the piano bench, laughing with one another, and chuckled to himself. "Do you think it'll work?"

The arctic fox sighed and leaned against the hare, who wrapped his arm around her.

"I sure hope so. They would be good for each other."

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Things are starting to look up for everybody's favorite duo. We thought that now would be a good time to pair them together, but we decided against, opting for something a bit different.**

 **HOWEVER! This does mean that the two will be very close from now on. There will be more jokes, humor, blushing, embarrassing moments and their fluffy stuff from here on out until the next conflict point.**

 **I know that we just threw in the fact that Skye and Jack are together. I apologize if it seems kinda sudden, but we originally planned to make it a big elaborate part of the plot, but then decided that it would make things a little too complicated.**

 **We've got a LOT going on in our lives, but we'll try to get another chapter out this week.**

 **As always, please leave us reviews and comments. What did you like, what didn't you like? Anything we need to fix? Anything you wanna see more of?**

 **That about wraps it up. I hope you all stay happy. See ya next time.**


	16. DAWN OF THE RAGTAGS

**CHAPTER 16: DAWN OF THE RAGTAGS**

Judy Hopps sat at the kitchen island in the band's new home, sipping a cup of coffee. Outside the sun was shining, producing a warm shade over the colorful fall leaves. Mammals outside were raking leaves or enjoying the nice fall weather. Everything was calm in the district, which was a pleasant contrast to the other districts which were, more or less, in shambles after the "Nighthowler Incident".

A week had passed since the bunny had come home from the hospital. After their little moment in the music room, She and Nick had become close again. As a matter of fact, they'd never been closer. You hardly ever saw one without the other, which meant there was a LOT of playful bantering and snarky jokes reverberating throughout the house on a constant basis. Judy also got to know Skye a lot more over the past week. The arctic fox's main trait was her composed and elegant appearance, yet silly and optimistic personality. Something else she noticed about her was how often and how sweetly she spoke of Jack, a attribute she noticed in Jack as well, so she made a mental note to keep an eye on the two.

So, yeah: things were, for the most part, back to the way they were.

Well, except for one thing.

Pawlapalooza.

The bunny's face morphed from its original contended look to one more convicting. The band had come _so_ close to their goal before she had gone and screwed things up (her words, not theirs). Now, the festival was cancelled until further notice, which, she could tell, bugged everyone. Though everyone said it wasn't a big deal, they all knew that was a lie.

"You look pensive." She heard behind her.

The voice was so close and sudden that she jumped in her seat, accidentally spilling her (still steaming) coffee on the perpetrator.

"Ah! Hot hot hot!" the voice yelped and the bunny turned to see red fur and a coffee stained white tank-top hopping up and down.

"Don't do that, ya dumb fox!" she fumed, then laughed. Nick dramatized a pained look, then began to wet a washcloth and wipe himself off.

"Ah. Note to self: Carrots is violent in the mornings." Judy rolled her eyes and went to grab another mug. She poured the coffee into the mugs and handed one to Nick, who looked at it with feigned suspicion. "Is it safe? You won't pour it on me?"

"I will if you don't take it." She retorted, and the fox laughed slightly nervously and took the mug. He sipped some of the liquid and sighed contentedly.

"Thanks, bun bun." the remarked was followed by a swift punch to his shoulder.

"No one calls me that. Ever." she warned and the fox whined.

"Oh, the pain! You should be more careful, Carrots. I'm very fragile y'know."

"Hardly! You've toned up a lot since we first met."

"Oh yeah? Well, I gotta impress the ladies, right?" he quipped and flexed his arms in a joking 'macho-mammal' pose. Judy laughed, but she couldn't help but admire the fox before her. He was already quite fetching and charming (for a fox), but his new physique only added to the appeal. She had to admit, he looked good. He wasn't necessarily bulging with muscles, but his body was lean, and the tight tank top he was wearing showed it. His fur also seemed thicker and a darker red. It was originally a sign to her that he had toughened up since their little bout at the concert hall, but now, with the smile on his face, it was a nice change…

 _What're you doing?_

She shook herself from her thoughts and motioned for Nick to sit down in the stool across from her. He plopped onto the stool and placed his elbows on the island, resting his head in his paws.

"So, what we're you thinking about before you poured scalding morning juice all over me?" Judy rolled her eyes, then addressed the question.

"Pawlapalooza."

"What about it?"

"It was our chance to achieve everything we ever dreamed of, and I ruined that chance."

"Mmm, yeah, you did." Nick nodded in agreement and Judy punched him again. "What? You said it so yourself!"

"Who said what?" The pair turned to look at the tiger, husky, and fennec making their way down the steps, rubbing their eyes and yawning.

"Morning, guys. Judy was just saying she was at fault for us losing our chance to play at Pawlapalooza."

"Okay, we agree." Finnick said and the others nodded in agreement.

"Guys!"

"What? It's not like we ain't never gonna get another opportunity."

"Finnick is right, and if we can't find one, we'll just make one." Noah's statement must've triggered something in Nick, because when Judy looked back at him, his paws were clasped together in a gun-looking fashion, his thumbs resting underneath his chin, something he often did when he was thinking.

"What're you thinking, Nick."

"Well, what if we did?"

"Did what?"

"Make our own venue." The idea resonated with the band, especially Judy. The concept of starting their own concert was crazy, but with Mr. Big funding their activities, it wouldn't be impossible. However, though Bellwether was out of office and the 'Nighthowler Debacle' over, there was still a lot of tension on the city. Predator and Prey were still at odds, and that would make any event hard to create.

"You sure that's such a good idea, Nick?" Joey questioned, as if he had read Judy's mind. "I mean, the city is still really tense. I'm not so sure music is what they need right now."

"Music is exactly what they need right now." Nick retorted. "Music is one of the most powerful types of communication there is. Artists are the most influential mammals because everyone listens to _some_ music. You really want to send a message? Then let's play."

"But how would we do it?"

"Guys, do you have any idea how many musicians we met at those rallies? We can contact them, tell them we're gonna hold one last big concert, slash peace protest and that we need as many musicians as we can to make it happen."

"Okay, but what about gear, lighting, staging? Are you sure Mr. Big is gonna be able to pull through?"

"Well, what he can't do, maybe we can." The group turned to see a nicely dressed giraffe step through the door, along with Jack and Skye, and the group immediately recognized her as the judge from the festival.

"I'm sure you all remember Mrs. Stevens." They all got up and shook her hoof. "She has something to tell us."

Mrs. Stevens nodded to the hare and arctic fox, then turned back to face the band. "So, as the five of you already know, Pawlapalooza was cancelled this year due to the Nighthowler Incident, but the Judge board kept a close eye on the uprising bands, particularly yours, to see what you all would do from here. Most bands simply went back to their normal lives, but we took great pleasure in seeing your group rise above the others during the hard times. We attended several of the peace rallies, and though we didn't necessarily get to hear you play, we found your words inspiring. Your friends here went to come convince us to give you all another chance, but we had already made it our personal goal to make sure you get your chance to shine. However, it seems that you've already decided to move forward on your own. So, if you would allow us, we'd like to offer our assistance." Judy glanced over at Nick, whose eyes were just slightly glazed over.

"Nick, are you crying?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Carrots, I'm a grown Tod." He rubbed his eyes and bit to clear the mist in his eyes. "Sorry, Mrs. Stevens, it's just that we've never seen so many people have so much faith in us. Thank you."

Nick held out his paw and the giraffe shook it warmly, then clapped her hooves together. "Okay! So, where should we begin?"

* * *

Nick crashed onto the couch and groaned in exhaustion.

The band had spent the majority of the day getting prepared for the event. Mrs. Stevens gave them a list of musicians who would be willing to contribute and used the funding from the Pawlapalooza festival to buy materials. Mr. Big pulled through and was now funding the stage construction and sound equipment purchases. So, the biggest hurdle had been jumped.

Nick had just wrapped up calling several of the musicians on Mrs. Stevens' list, including Gazelle, Kanine West, Raccoon 5, and several uprising bands, all of whom were ecstatic to host one last music protest. He'd also called Nathan, whom was coming over in a couple minutes to discuss the plan. But right now, Nick just wanted to close his eyes and relax.

"You look tense." Nick opened his eyes to see a grey bunny plop down next to him.

"Hey, Carrots. Nah, m'just tired. You don't look too great either."

"Why wouldn't I? We're only trying organizing an entire freaking music festival within the span of a few weeks."

Nick chuckled a bit to himself, and the bunny collapsed into his lap. He looked down to see her eyes making contact with his, and for whatever reason, Nick found himself studying her. He observed her soft grey fur, and her twitchy little pink nose. The scars on her cheek were hardly noticeable now, but he could see them if he looked hard enough. As she lay in his lap, he finally realized just how small and petite she really was. Judy smiled at him, to which he noted that her two front teeth were _just_ slightly disproportionate.

 _That's cute._

 _What're you doing?_

The fox shook himself from his invasive thoughts and stretched out on the couch with a yawn, then began playing with the bunny's ears.

"I'm sure we'll figure it out." He stated nonchalantly as he flopped the ears around, and Judy began trying to swat his paws away, laughing.

"Quit it!" She lifted her head off his lap and sat up straight, her previous gravely expression returning to her face. "Seriously, Nick; Do you really think that we could even come close to making this work?"

Nick shrugged his shoulders and answered, "Why not?"

"I'm gonna need something a little more convincing than that."

"Well, what am I supposed to say?" The fox clasped his paws behind his back and leaned back on the couch. "We don't have a whole lot of certainty, here."

"That's what I'm worried about." Judy said and she sat up. Nick could see she was genuinely worried. "I mean, what if things don't go the way they're supposed to? What if something bad happens? W-What if everything explodes in our face?" Her voice was shaking and Nick could see she was on the verge of tears. "What if I-I make things worse? I don't think I could take that again."

"Hey, hey" Nick wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his lap and gently shushed her. "That's not gonna happen. One: You aren't alone this time. Two: You're overthinking this. Three: I'm gonna be there every step on the way."

The bunny in his arms stopped her gentle crying and smiled up at him. "Since when, were you the hopeful one?"

"Ever since you became the emotional one. Someone had to pick up the slack."

Judy laughed a bit and punched him gently in the shoulder. Nick nuzzled her gently on the head and motioned for her to get up, and she complied.

"So, you really think that we could do this? We're not much more than a ragtag group of idealists"

"That's exactly what this city needs right now." Nick stood up, then thought to himself. "Y'know, I kinda like that."

"Like what?"

"Ragtags…" Nick heard the doorbell ring and the sound of the rest of the band scrambling to the door. Then he heard Finnick say, "Oh hey, Nathan."

"Hey guys. What's going on?"

"Nathan, come inside!" Finnick, Noah, Joey and Nathan then entered the living room. "Guys, I have a proposition for you. I wanna change our name."

"Why?" Joey questioned.

"Think of it as a clean slate. I know that it's not much, but I wanna start fresh. What better way to do that than to do a name change?"

"Okay, but what would we change it to?"

"The Ragtags."

"Ragtags?" came the collective response.

"Yeah, Carrots, here, said that we were a ragtag group of idealists, and I thought 'I guess we are, aren't we?'"

"Well, we're with you, all the way."

"I don't understand. What's going on?" Nathan asked. Nick mentally slapped himself. Amidst his earlier excitement, he had neglected to tell Nathan what was going on.

"We're hosting a concert, Nate."

"No." Nick grinned from ear to ear and motioned to correct Finnick.

"We're saving this city."

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Flapjack: Aaaaaand we're back!**

 **Fluff: Hey everyone, sorry it took us so long to come out with another chapter, but we were out of the country.**

 **Flapjack: Yep. We were celebrating Christmas, and New Year's, and a Wedding, and a couple birthdays, and a bunch of other stuff, so we were a little distracted. But we're back, and hopefully, we'll at least be able to come out with a chapter or two a week.**

 **Fluff: Anyway, we have a couple of notes. If you noticed, our writing style was a** _ **little**_ **awkward here. We're getting back into the swing of things, so please be patient with us.**

 **Flapjack: The name Ragtags came from a google search. We were explaining what ragtag meant, and the example sentence said** _ **"A ragtag group of idealists"**_ **. Naturally we liked the name, so we used it.**

 **Fluff: So, Nick and Judy are a lot closer now, which might turn into something more. Please be patient though. As most naturally are, relationships are slow boiled, thus this Wildehopps ship is, too. Until then, we will lace fluff here and there for you to get a taste.**

 **Flapjack: That's pretty much it. As always, you can fave/follow this fic or us. Leave us reviews; compliments and criticisms are welcome.**

 **Fluff: It's still warm where we are, but for those in the western section of America (or anywhere else in the world that is really cold right now) you guys stay warm. We'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as possible.**

 **Flapjack: Until next time!**


	17. RIOT NIGHT PART 01

**CHAPTER 17: RIOT NIGHT PART 01**

The sky was getting darker and the day was coming to a close. Zootopia was never a city known for its quiet evenings, but ever since the Nighthowler scare, mammals became a bit more… cautious. Nowadays, most of the mammals you'd see roaming the streets at night were predators. No one actually said it, but even though the predators weren't to blame for the savage attacks, mammals were still afraid of them, or at the least, wary.

It didn't effect Emmitt or his wife much; They were otters, which _were_ predators, but most mammals didn't consider them as such. Still, they couldn't help but notice the slight hesitation that prey customers had when they stepped through the front door…

Nevertheless, they chose to ignore it and move on with their lives.

The two were close to finishing up their day at the shop. Olivia was very concerned about her husband's health and suggested that he take things slow, but Emmitt argued that the best thing for him right now was to get back into the normal swing of things; he detested the notion of sitting down and doing nothing while his wife was working hard.

He had finished sweeping the floors and was about to lock the door before he caught a glimpse of something on the front doorstep. He opened it and picked up what he made out to be two flares. On them were tags with something scribbled in Nick's handwriting.

 _Light 'em up.  
15_ _th_ _street, City Center_

"What is it, Hon?" He heard Olivia say behind him.

"Flares." Was his only reply, then he looked up. The streets were slowly being filled with mammals, each one carrying a lit flare and a tag. He stood there for a moment, then ignited his own and handed one to his wife.

"What's going on?"

"I don't know…" He stated, then grabbed his wife's paw and pulled her out the door. They locked it behind them and made their way onto the streets joining their red sparks with the rest.

"But there's only one way to find out."

* * *

 _Tick… Tock._

 _Tick… Tock._

 _Tick… Tock._

 _Tick… Tock._

 _Tick… Tock._

Judy Hopps observed the four members placed vicariously around the room. Finnick and Noah were playing a quick game of poker, Joey was meditating on the carpet, and Nick was scrolling through his phone. For the most part, everything was silent, save the occasional shuffling of cards or the ticking of the grandfather clock on the wall, which left her time to think.

Two months. They had two months to prepare for this night. It was difficult to keep things under wraps; The ZPD had entire sections of the city blocked off for "Construction Purposes" so they could set up equipment and staging and stay under the radar. Millions of dollars and months of work had culminated to this one night, and the entire band was a nervous wreck.

So, when Nick's alarm sounded at the stroke of seven, the entire room jolted in their spaces. Judy recovered from the shock and stood up, as did the rest, and made her way to the front door. As the rest gathered around, she got a look at each one of them. They each were wearing a black jacket, with no shirt underneath. Judy herself donned similar apparel, save she was wearing a ripped white t-shirt underneath that clearly showed her tattoo.

There was a deafening silence within the circle: The kind of silence in which it would be a sin to break. Nick nodded to Noah, who said a quick prayer before he passed out a flare to each one of them. Judy thumbed the tag on it and chuckled a bit to herself. _Light 'em up_. The message had two meanings. One was a direction, but the second was unknown to anyone outside of the group. They had written a new song. Something that they made just for themselves, as a call-to-arms. Tonight was their return to music and they were starting over with a clean slate… A burned slate, but clean nonetheless.

She began to sing the lyrics.

 _Be careful making wishes in the dark  
Can't be sure when they've hit their mark  
And besides in the meantime, I'm just dreaming of tearing you apart_

The words were quiet, but loud enough for the rest to hear. Their city had spent 5 months in anguish and rage, divided amongst itself.

 _I'm in the details with the devil  
So now the world can never get me on my level  
I just got to get you out of the cage  
I'm a young lovers rage  
Gonna need a spark to ignite_

The rest had joined in on the little battle cry. Their voices were unsteady at first but eventually gained structure. Tonight was _the_ night. Everything they'd done – the practice sessions, the construction, the planning, the sweat, the tears, the laughter… all of it – had led up to this one moment. This was the ultimatum they were looking for, and it would be a cold day in hell before they would let another chance like this slip from their paws.

So, eyes closed and fists clenched tight, the five opened the door and stepped out, with the last of the words on Judy's lips ringing true.

 _My songs know what you did in the dark_

Outside, the streets were being filled with red blazes. Mammals left and right stepped out of their houses, flares in hand and looked to them; The Deciduous Domain was the only district that knew what was happening. They saw the five step out into the street and made a path for them. Nick smirked and set his ignited his flare.

"So light em up."

* * *

Had Jack's foot thumped on the ground any faster, he would have loosened up the asphalt underneath it. Savage was the kind of mammal you'd never see lose his composure. He, like his father, made it a personal goal to remain calm, cool, and collective at all times. However, today seemed to make that impossible.

Don't get him wrong; Everything was going off with a hitch.

They, after weeks of coaxing, got an address book for everyone in the city. They then began to mail a tagged-flare to every single mammal in the city, and from the looks of it, most mammals seemed to be playing their little game. Seeing as how they could NEVER fit everyone into a single district, they set up projection systems and stages in every major district. For those who couldn't see the stage, they set up speakers all over the city, so no one would be left out.

Now, he, Skye, Lily, and Katie were in the flow of mammals heading to Oasis Avenue, Sahara Square each holding their own flares. They were doing the best they could to make sure everything went smoothly without giving themselves away, and so far, everything was fine. Still, Jack was preparing himself for the worst.

It's a well-known fact that a professional should never get emotionally involved with his work. So, if that was the case, then Jackson N. Savage was by no means a professional. He originally took Nick and his band on as a charity case: Just a wealthy hare trying to help out a group with next-to-nothing. However, over the course of the past 6 months that he'd known them, they had practically brought him into the family. He tried his best to remain professional, but all the nights over at their house, the home-cooked meals, and the playful bantering had gotten to him, and it wasn't long until he saw them less as clients and more as a family. That being said, tonight was just as important to him as it was to them… maybe more.

"Will you relax, Jacky? It'll be fine." The sound of Skye's voice calmed him down a bit, and he looked in her direction.

"You know I hate it when you call me that."

Skye rolled her eyes and nudged Lily. "Hey, Lily, what time is it?"

The tiny arctic fox looked down at her watch and held the flare above it to see more clearly. "mmmm… 6:30."

"So it should be starting soon." Steppefurd stood on her toes and glanced over the crowd. "We're almost there."

"Did the ZPD take down the road blocks?"

"They just did."

Jack took a deep breath and closed his eyes. This was it. Everything they had done had lead up to this one moment, and here they were. The crowd began to move forward and the four of them began to weave through the crowd.

They made it to the front and observed the area. Oasis Avenue was named after the enormous oasis in its center, in which the rest of the district was built around. The space was open enough to fill a majority of the district, but not the entirety of it.

"Hey, you're Savage, right?"

The group turned to see a Wolf they recognized as Kanine West walk up to them.

"Yes, Mr. West, that would be me. Are you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." West turned to look at the crowd. "Well, I better get up there. You tell your boy that I'll be with him to the end o' this, got it?"

"We will, thank you."

With that, West left and made his way to the stone slab in the middle of the oasis pool.

Jack turned to the others.

"You all can go ahead to the city center. I'll stay behind and make sure things go according to plan, and then I'll catch up with you."

Skye reached over and planted a kiss on Savage's cheek, causing him to blush.

"You're a good mammal, Jack. We'll see you down there."

Jack stood there for a moment, watching the three head towards the direction of the city center, then checked his watch.

 _7:00 p.m_

He made his way down the street they just came from, watching mammals converse left and right, wondering what might be going on in their minds at that moment. However, when the pop of a mic sounded throughout the entire city, he knew exactly what was going through their minds.

"WHAT'S UP ZOOTOPIA!"

He turned to see West standing at the center of Oasis Avenue, lights shining down on him. He sent a few texts to some other members who shot a text back confirming that the projection screens and speakers were working in their sections, too.

Screams and cheers could be heard around every corner as one of Zootopia's star children's voice sounded throughout the streets.

"YEAH MAN, FEELIN GOOD OUT HERE TODAY!?"

Another roar, another wave of excitement, and Jack chuckled to himself. He was not one for Hip-Hop or Rap, but he did have to admit that West knew how to jar a crowd.

"Alright, we were feelin' a little oppressed by all this hate goin' around the city, so we felt like cuttin' it loose for one night, y'all good with that?"

More cheering and hollering ensued, and after he confirmed that the sound systems wouldn't blow mid-performance, Jack made his way to Savannah Square as the beginnings or _I am a God_ began to blare through the speakers.

 _I am a god_

 _Even though I'm a man of God_

 _My whole life in the hand of God_

 _So y'all better quit playin' with God_

So, things were off to a good start, but he and the others still had a LONG night ahead of them. He only prayed that the city could pull through.

Could they, though? He was never one for doubting people, and he trusted Nick, but they had come close before, and everything went horribly wrong. Shaking him from his thoughts, his phone buzzed in his paw. He turned it on to see a text from Nick.

 _ **N: You good?**_

 _ **J: A little nervous.**_

 _ **N: Same here.**_

 _ **J: Are you absolutely sure that we'll be able to pull this off?**_

There was a bit of a pause between his question and Nick's reply, and Jack could imagine the small glimmer of uncertainty that flashed in Nick's eyes when he read his text. A minute or so went by before Jack received his answer.

 _ **N: Don't worry about it. You got us this far, now it's your turn to relax and enjoy the night.**_

 _ **N: So, you ready?**_

Nick was right. He'd done everything he could to help them get where they were, and now they were asking him to let them show him what his help accomplished. Shaking himself from any fear he had left, he typed in his answer and pressed send.

 _ **J: Let's get started.**_

* * *

 **A/N** :

 **Fluff: Hey everybody! It's just me today. Flapjack came down with a serious fever, so he's bedridden, which means that I'm the one who suffers because I'm forced to write by my lonesome** _ **and**_ **deal with his complaints of not being able to exercise or cook.**

 **Sorry it took so long for us to post the next chapter! Writing on my own is hard and I had a SERIOUS case of writer's block. I wasn't quite sure how to tackle Riot Night, but I think that I** _ **might**_ **have it down now, so keep your eyes out for another chapter before next Saturday.**

 **So this chapter kinda gives a little insight into the character progression of Jack Savage. I realized he's been a pretty mundane character, and I love how people usually portray him as this suave British chap, so I decided to go with that personality at the beginning, but decided that it was a little boring, so I sort of integrated him into the family. 'Cause when you meet people like Nick and the others, it's pretty hard not to get personally involved with them.**

 **So yeah, hopefully, you guys enjoyed this at least a little bit. I'll try better with the next chapter. As always, we suggest that you hit those fave/follow buttons and leave us reviews. Praises, critiques, suggestions; We accept and appreciate all of it.**

 **So, that's it for now. Thanks for reading and we'll see you next time.**


	18. RIOT NIGHT PART 02

**CHAPTER 18: RIOT NIGHT PART 02**

 _ **11:30 p.m., Zootopia City Center**_

Cheering could be heard all around the city.

Nicholas Wilde sat on a bench in the central park, watching Gazelle work her magic on the projection screen. Musicians of all kind had performed in just about every district, save city center. The night had carried on without any major problems for 5 hours now, but he couldn't help but feel as though something would go wrong.

It was a miracle that they managed to convince the city board to let them host the event. When they presented their idea, they were met with some resistance and some enthusiasm; You can't expect everyone to agree. When they put it to a vote, they just barely won the majority, and now that Riot Night has begun, he couldn't help but feel as though the less enthusiastic officials would try something.

He wasn't gonna let that stop him, though. No, he'd come this far; He wasn't about to let some butthurt politicians get in his way.

He sat there, looking at the other mammals jumping around him. All over the city, predators and prey alike were joined together in an all-out frenzy. He'd created Riot Night as a time for everyone to let all the prejudice and anger melt away. Of course, he was smart enough to make sure that the ZPD would be able to oversee the event, should things get out of hand, but everything was moving pretty smoothly so far.

He wondered what it must look like to everyone outside the city, watching the event. He wasn't ignorant: Not long after the streets began flooding with red flares at 6, News reporters were on the scene and filming what was happening. Around 10:30, the ZNN news chopper hit the skies and was now doing a standard rotation of the city, so he had a good idea that a lot of people were watching. He wondered if his parents were watching, or actually attending.

He didn't get a chance to relish the thought, as a certain gray bunny plopped into the seat beside him, her legs kicking into the air.

"You look happy… and nervous. Something happen?"

"My parents called. They turned on the TV to see Zootopia on every news channel. They're watching the event live." She replied. "We're national."

"That's… overwhelming."

"That's what I said!" The number of emotions flashing across the bunny's face were too many for the poor fox to count, and he watched as she pulled at her ears.

"Hey, shouldn't this be a good thing? We're about to play for an entire nation!"

"Doesn't that scare you, though?" She turned to him, genuine fear in her eyes. "What if we choke? We'll have made fools of ourselves on national TV!"

Nick took a deep breath and placed a paw on her shoulder.

"It does scare me." He admitted. "It scares me that we'll be playing in front of millions of mammals. It scares me that this might be our last chance. It scares me that we'll be going up against years of prejudice and fear, armed with instruments and rhymes. I'm absolutely terrified."

The look in Judy's eyes showed him that she knew he was being honest, and it comforted him that she could trust him. Something Nick hadn't realized up until recently was that he relished in Judy's faith in him. He couldn't quite place his finger on why; he assumed it was because she was the first new friend he'd made in years.

"But…" Judy said, assuming he'd continue.

"But what?"

"Was there anything else past that?"

"No, not really. I was just letting you know that I was equally as terrified as you."

"Sweet cheese and crackers, Nick, you're really bad at this." They shared a laugh as Gazelle's performance came to a close.

"Hey, I think it's our turn." Nick stood up and stretched, then turned to Judy. "You ready?"

After asking the question, he reflected on it. It was a rather simple question, but in the context of what they were doing, it could mean a wide variety of questions. Ready for what? Ready to play? Ready to speak to the world? Ready for everything you know to change? Ready for whatever comes next? All were very valid questions in this situation, and Nick found himself asking all of them, and he could see from Judy's expression that she was doing the same. After contemplating the loaded question, all fear flushed from her face, and what remained was the confident young doe he first met those 6 months ago.

"Come on," She said, hopping up and punching Nick on the shoulder. "Let's go find the others."

* * *

Scientifically speaking, a rabbit's heart already beats at an abnormal rate, and rabbits are known to die from over-excitement. Judy Hopps felt as though this could happen at any moment. Her heart felt like a machine-gun in her chest, as if it were trying to rip its way out. She took a deep breath to calm herself down, then peeled off her black coat, leaving her clad in a ripped white T-shirt and black pants.

She met up with the rest of the band, whom had already shed themselves of their coats, leaving them shirtless. Nick turned to look at her and smiled, then let his gaze fall on the tattoo on her side. The broken tribal sword and cracked shield was their mark; It was the brand that they each carried as a covenant with one another. However, after their little bout with one another, they decided to add something else. Nick held out an overturned fist, revealing two Chinese characters on his forearm.

The other band members followed suit, each revealing the same characters. The Chinese characters jia tzu meant "a clan; a family". They had the characters tattooed on not long after Nick and Judy made up. It was a testament to the bond that they all shared. They were more than just a band; they were a family. Come hell or high water, they were prepared to weather the storms together.

"You guys ready?" Nick's voice was close, yet so far off. She couldn't feel her "yes" leave her lips, nor could hear the collective acknowledgments of the others. They bowed their heads and she could hear the mumblings of a prayer leave Joey's lips, but his words were unintelligible to her. It was as if she were underwater, where everything was blurred. Her sight, her hearing, her smell, her touch: it felt as though everything had been numbed, and her senses had abandoned her to her own thoughts and demons. She was prepared for the onslaught of doubts and questions to bury her alive.

But for the first time, she also wasn't. She felt her doubts and demons standing there before her, ready to shoot down any hopes and aspirations she could possibly conjure, but this time, she stood her ground. She forced her way through, entombing anything that dare tell her that she couldn't. And when she made it to the end, she saw them. Nick, and Finnick, and Joey, and Noah, and Katie, and Jack, and Lily and Skye.

All these mammals who had faith and trust in her. Animals that _believed_ in her, and she in them. She was ready for whatever came their way.

The collective amen snapped her from her trance, and she felt her head clear. Her senses returned to her: She could feel the paws in hers, smell the burnt flares, hear the cheers of the crowd, and see the faces of her greatest friends and family. And just like that, she felt something spark inside of her. It was a familiar feeling; it was the same one she had when she first came to this city.

Confidence. An overbearing confidence crashed over her, and she could feel it infect the others. She took a deep breath and smiled. When she turned to Nick, she could tell from the warm smile on his muzzle that he knew what had happened to her, and he nodded.

Over the speakers, they could hear Gazelle's voice resonate.

"Ah, Zootopia! I've enjoyed every minute of tonight, and I hope you've done the same!"

Cheering, roaring, and whistling sounded out though the city districts, then the projection screens lit up and displayed all the other acts on the wall.

"But, we're not quite finished yet."

"No, we have one more act for you guys tonight." Spoke Memoranda, who was speaking from Frigid boulevard. "These guys aren't quite as famous, but we're sure you've met them before."

"These guys were, in fact, the ones who set this little event up." Spoke Hyena Gomez. "They used to go by the name of the Sidewalk Citizens, but after a little scare, they decided to change things up a bit."

Then back to Gazelle. "But we've talked too much. Everyone, please welcome our good friends, the Ragtags!"

Judy was surprised and the amount of cheering and applause they received as they went onstage. The wall on the back of the stage had dropped, revealing the band's signature logo. Judy made her way to a mic and Nick did the same. The applause died down and the crowd was silent. Each member was at their place, instruments in hand and looking to Nick, who nodded to Finnick, who began to tap a beat.

But just as Nick and Joey brought their hands down on the strings, they were met with silence and the tinny sound of unamplified electric guitar chords. Confusion on his face, Nick turned to Jack, who was standing side stage, yanking at his ears, clueless. But not for much longer, as the source of the problem emerged front stage.

"The night is over!" Called the mammals below, and Nick could see that the crowd consisted of several anti-pred activists and the reluctant board members.

"You think that this will solve anything!? There can't be peace between predators and prey! There never _has_ been!" Booing could be heard from the rest of the crowd as the naysayers stood their ground.

"It sounds to me that you're the only ones who don't want peace." Was Nick's reply, then he began stomping a beat on the stage. Judy and the others picked up on what he was doing and followed him, and it wasn't long until the crowd caught wind of what was happening. Soon, an entire city was stomping to the beat, and Nick moved to sing.

" _Generals gathered in their masses,_ _just like witches in black masses._ _Evil minds that plot destruction_ _._ _Sorcerers of death's construction."_ Judy remembered this song. Nick had written it a month ago in response to the political resistance he was met with while trying to get the event up and running. Playing along with Nick's game, she joined in.

 _In the fields the bodies burning as the war machine keeps turning._ _Death and hatred to mankind,_ _poisoning their brainwashed minds. Oh lord, yeah!"_ She turned and nodded to Jack, who went to the sound board to find what was wrong with the sound.

" _Politicians hide themselves away_ _._ _They only started the war; why should they go out to fight?_ _They leave that role to the poor."_

" _Time will tell on their power minds_ _,_ _making war just for fun_ _._ _Treating people just like pawns in chess_ _._ _Wait 'till their judgment day comes"_ Jack raced back to the side of the stage and gave a thumbs up to Nick, who pulled his hand up and strummed his guitar, a hard chord sounding out through the speakers, causing the crowd to cheer and the naysayers to slump in defeat.

Joey and Finnick kept the beat going and Joey and Nick battled onstage with their guitars. Judy danced around with Noah onstage while she watched Nick lose himself to the music.

It was all surreal. The crowd was still stomping and clapping along to the beat and cheering as Nick and Joey slammed the next chords.

" _Now in darkness world stops turning_ _ashes where the bodies burning. No more war pigs have the power_ _._ _Hand of God has struck the hour."_

 _Day of judgment, God is calling._ _On their knees the war pigs crawling_ _, b_ _egging mercy for their sins_ _._ _Satan laughing spreads his wings. Oh Lord, yeah!"_

As Nick and Joey began playing the last stretch of chords and riffs, Judy looked out to the crowd and realized that Nick was right. Here were predators and prey, who had spent months avoiding one another, now gathered together, jumping and celebrating together. Music was the language that everyone shared, and if this is the power that it held, then Judy wanted more. She was lost to it.

The last of the chords rang out and the cheering of the crowd became more apparent. The naysayers had left their spot and it was replaced with other mammals. Judy saw Nick turn to the others and give them a thumbs up, then give her a smirk and a wink, which left her wary of what he would do next. Nick stepped to the mic and cleared his throat.

"Good evening." Screams and cheering ensued and Judy closed her eyes as the sound penetrated her ears. "Now, that was a welcome! Anyways, hey everyone, we're the Ragtags and were happy to be here with you guys tonight. As the wonderful Ms. Gomez had said, we used to go by the Sidewalk Citizens for a while, but after a little fight amongst ourselves, we decided we needed a bit of a change.

"As you can see, each one of us carries a tattoo of our signature symbol on us, and we do this as a symbol that we are loyal to the band, but we realized that we needed to be more than that. We needed to be a family, and these guys have become, more or less, my family, including little Judy Hopps over there." Judy rolled her eyes as Nick pointed to her, then began walking over to him.

"Judy here has been the most recent member of our family, but she has been one of the biggest impacts in my life." Judy's eye's widened in surprise as Nick began speaking so warmly of her. "She's become one of my closest friends and has inspired me to chase after what I want, but sadly, she was also the one that ruined our friendship." The memory of their little scene at the concert hall made her cringe, and she felt as though she might implode into nothingness and disappear.

"But, she was _also_ the one who came back to me and moved heaven and earth to earn my trust back, even when I didn't want to give it to her. She has surprised me at just about every turn, and I love her for that." The warmth that rose in her couldn't be described with words. All the sadness and guilt melted away and was replaced with the soft embrace of contentment. "Now, she is also an amazing singer, as you guys have seen, so I want her to do a song for you guys if that's ok."

The crowd cheered, but Judy began to shrink. Don't misunderstand her: she loved singing, and she loved doing so with Nick, but she'd never led the band before. Covering the mic, she whispered to Nick.

"Um, you sure about that, Nick?"

"It'll be fine, Carrots. You've got this." He handed the mic to her and made his way to her former spot. Breath a bit shaky and foot thumping, she leaned in to the mic.

* * *

"Hey, everyone, I'm Judy, and, uh, I guess you already knew that." There was a bit of an awkward silence as she stood there thinking of what to say. Nick wasn't entirely sure whether she was going to be okay or not, but still had faith in her and resisted the urge to help her out.

Eventually, Nick saw her lean back into the mic. "Anyways, you guys aren't here to listen to us talk. So, This song's called 'Looking Up'. Hope you enjoy it."

Without needing to turn to Finnick, the long-eared fox began tapping a beat. After a measure, Nick began strumming the intro. As the other instruments joined in, Nick saw begin to lose herself in the music. Closing her eyes, she leaned in and began to sing.

" _Things are looking up, oh finally!_ I thought I'd never see the day when _you smile at me._ _We always pull through, oh when we try._ _I'm always wrong but you're never right._ _Oh, you're never right!"_

The crowd began to cheer and jump to the beat as Nick saw Judy gain confidence and open her eyes.

"Honestly, can you believe we _crossed the world while it's asleep?_ _I'd never trade it in, 'cause I've always wanted this and it's not a dream anymore!_ _No. It's not a dream anymore!_ _It's worth fighting for."_

Judy had gotten into the swing of things, and as Joey and Nick played the next riff, she began dancing onstage with the crowd.

" _Could have given up so easily_ _._ _I was a few cheap shots away from the end of me_ _._ Taken for granted, almost everything that I would have died for just _yesterday,_ _just yesterday._

"Honestly, can you believe we _crossed the world while it's asleep?_ _I'd never trade it in, 'cause I've always wanted this and it's not a dream anymore!_ _No. It's not a dream anymore!_ _It's worth fighting for."_

As they quieted down, Judy pulled the mic off the stand and kneeled down at the base of the stage, her face closer to the crowd.

" _God knows the world doesn't need another band, (whoa, whoa!)_ _But what a waste it would've been! (whoa, whoa!)"_ When the beat picked up, she stood back up to her feet and began hopping in place, and the crowd followed her.

" _I can't believe we almost hung it up (whoa, whoa!)_ _We're just getting started (whoa, whoa!)."_

"Honestly, can you believe we _crossed the world while it's asleep?_ _I'd never trade it in, 'cause I've always wanted this and it's not a dream anymore!_ _No. It's not a dream anymore!_ _It's worth fighting for."_

They strummed their apparent last chord and the crowd began to cheer, but then Finnick hit the kick once again and Judy sang into the mic and the crowd cheered and joined in.

" _I can't believe we almost hung it up (whoa, whoa!)_ _We're just getting started (whoa, whoa!)._ _I can't believe we almost hung it up (whoa, whoa!)_ _We're just getting started! Oh, we're just getting started!."_

Judy leaned up against the mic stand and looked over at Nick, who was smiling from ear-to-ear. As the wave of cheers, hollers, and roars overcame them, she had one single thought.

 _We really are just getting started_.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Aaaaaaand done! Hey, everyone, it's Fluff by myself again. Sorry I was a little later than I said I'd be. Flapjack is still bedridden and complaining about it. Anyway, hopefully, you liked this chapter. I felt like it was a little forced, but yeah. The songs in this chapter are** _ **War Pigs**_ **by Black Sabbath and** _ **Looking Up**_ **by Paramore.**

 **So, story notes! About the naysayers: I went and watched Sing with Flapjack a couple weeks ago and we saw the seen where Ash had her guitar unplugged by the banker lady and she began stomping the beat on the stage and we were all "Heck yeah! Rock never dies!" so we decided to somehow incorporate that into our story, but reading it now, it just seems a little awkward. We used the song** _ **War Pigs**_ **at the behest of LuckyMike0117, in tribute to Black Sabbath announcing their retirement. That being said, if you ever have a plot or song suggestion, let us know and we'll see if it can fit somewhere in the story. We've got maybe one more chapter in this arc, but DON'T WORRY! We're not done yet, so keep listening.**

 **I'm gonna be out of town this, week, so it might be a little while before I can get another chapter out, but stay with us kiddos, and I'll try to get at it as soon as I can!**

 **As always, be sure to hit those fave/follow buttons and leave us reviews! Praises, Critiques, Questions and Suggestions are all welcome and accepted! Thank you all and we'll see you next time!**


	19. AFTERMATH

**CHAPTER 19: AFTERMATH**

 _Mere hours have passed since the conclusion of the unannounced all-nighter concert, Riot Night, led by the rising band, the Ragtags._

 _As the city continues to clean the streets of spent flares and ripped clothing, the citizens of Zootopia have returned to their normal lives and the tension in the city has died down. After the event came to a close, the number of hate-crimes and protests have dropped significantly. Pop-sensation, Gazelle, commented on the event._

" _Are there still prejudiced mammals out there? Yes, but the reality is that there will always be hateful animals in the world. Overall, however, Zootopia as a whole is beginning to evolve into the welcoming, open-minded city that the world perceives it to be. Therefore, the main goal of the night has been accomplished."_

 _The city wasn't the only thing to benefit from the all-nighter, though. Many rising bands that contributed to the event have gained status and popularity for their music, including the concert's hosts. It's still a hot topic: How the Ragtags had bled their hearts out to the city, communicating their heartbreak over its current state. We had a chance to talk with the Co-leader of the band, Nicholas Wilde about the night before he left with the rest of the band to their home in the Deciduous Domain._

" _We weren't a well-known name in the music industry when we set this thing up. We were a small-time band that played gigs in bars, so when we decided that we were going to play for an entire city, we weren't doing it for ourselves. We were tired of seeing a beautiful, diverse population divided amongst themselves, so we decided to do something about it. Are we grateful that everyone loved our music? Of course, we are, but that isn't the point. We did this with the hope of unifying a broken city, and I believe that's what we accomplished tonight."_

 _The band has received record-breaking critical acclaim since the debut. It's still unknown as to what they're next move is going to be, but we're all keeping our fingers crossed that whatever it is will happen soon. We'll keep you posted on the story and update you on further details as soon as possible._

Nick was lying on the couch in the living room, a hard-cover notebook covering his eyes as he slept soundly. The ambient noise coming from the TV mounted on the wall served as a soothing lullaby to him. He and the others had arrived at their home at 3 in the morning, drained and exhausted. They had planned to celebrate after they were done, but once they stepped through the doorway, they proceeded to collapse on the chairs and sofas in the main room. Now, at 10:28 in the morning, the room was still full of snoring individuals.

Well, except for one.

Nick was stirred awake by the sound of a thumping foot in the dining room. Frowning slightly, then stretching himself out over the others on the couch, he rolled off the bed and onto the floor, a healthy thud sounding from underneath him. Groaning, he lifted himself up and made his way to the kitchen, eyes still closed.

A slurred "Good morning." came from the dining room. The weary salutation was muffled slightly by a simultaneous yawn, and the fox, eyes sealed shut, nodded his head and groaned in reply. Reaching up, he searched the space blindly until his paw settled on a small nob which he pulled on, opening the cupboard. Wrapping his digits around the first ceramic handle he could find, he dared to open his eyes just slightly. Pulling the mug down and setting it on the counter, he haphazardly grabbed the coffee pot before him and began to pour the black liquid into the mug. Setting the pot back on the heater, he made his way to the kitchen island, where an equally tired gray bunny was sluggishly thumping her foot on the leg of her stool as she tapped her digits on her phone screen.

Looking up from her phone, she smiled drowsily, and let out a small yawn, causing the fox to yawn in kind. There was silence between the two as Judy continued to tap her phone and Nick sipped his coffee. A few more taps and sips later, they each set their objects down and looked at one another.

"Thanks for making the coffee." Nick's voice was hoarse and groggy, but the words were decipherable enough for Judy to hum in response. "What time did you get up?"

"Not long before you. My parents sent me a text." Judy's voice wasn't much better off than Nick's. Her voice was just louder than a whisper, and it was lower than normal, but it was still smooth and without scratch.

"Oh? And what was it about?"

"Well, aren't you a little nosey." Nick stifled a small raspy chuckle. "They were watching the concert last night."

"You don't say. And how, if you don't mind my asking, did they like it?"

"They want to meet you and the guys."

Nick was a fan of clichés and he often found himself subconsciously instigating or taking part in them. So, naturally, he had taken a sip of his coffee as she said that, then proceeded to choke slightly on the liquid.

"You sure that's a good idea, carrots? I mean, we're all preds. And weren't they the ones who gave you that fox spray?"

"Hey, if you don't remember, you were the one who was spouting all that 'species doesn't matter' stuff last night. Besides, my parents have changed a lot. They've even partnered with a fox I grew up with, who was the same one that gave me the claw marks on my cheek, I might add."

"But they knew him. They don't know us. I mean, it's not so much Noah or Joey that I'm worried about, but Finnick and I aren't the friendliest of mammals."

"Alright, two things. One: You and Finnick are the cuddliest people on earth. Two: I know them well enough to know that they don't invite people over that they don't want to meet."

Nick was just about to retort, but he found himself to be too tired to do so and simply accepted defeat. Still, he found he had reservations about meeting Judy's family. Maybe her parents weren't so bad, but that didn't guarantee that the rest of the family would be the same. Plus, he wasn't so sure about dealing with 275 of her siblings.

"Hey." He felt a small soft paw settle under his chin and lift his head towards her. Her voice had begun to slowly return to its normal state and her eyes, though still evidently exhausted, were warm and inviting. A small smile formed on her face, and the sun shone through the screen doors behind her. There was a moment of quiet between the two as Nick took a moment to examine her. Once again, he found himself admiring her; She _was_ beautiful. Those amethyst orbs were hypnotic and he found his weariness melt away.

And there was that familiar twang in his chest. He wasn't oblivious; he'd felt that twang twice in his life. So, when he felt it again as he stared into her eyes, he repressed it.

"Do you trust me?"

He did. God, he did, and it was frightening. He hadn't made many close friends, and all of them knew him before he lost Aurora. After that, he resolved to never get close to another person again. But when Jack and Judy entered his life, he found himself breaking that promise. Jack was like a brother to him and the others, and Nick found himself willing to take a beating for him. But Judy… Judy was different. She messed with his head, and she didn't even know she was doing it. She was becoming one of the closest friends he'd ever had, and they'd only known each other for so long. She had placed so much faith in him that it would be cruel for him to not repay the favor.

So, taking a deep breath, he nodded in confirmation.

"I do."

"Then have faith in me when I say that everything will be fine."

"… Alright." Leaning back in the chair, he watched as Judy's face lit up and picked up her phone to text her parents, and smiled. "So, when are they expecting us?"

"In a couple hours."

"Come again?"

The rest had woken up and were sluggishly making their way to the kitchen island. Finnick made his way to the fridge, opened the freezer, grabbed an ice pack, and tossed it to Joey. Filling a couple mugs with coffee, the rest crowded around the kitchen island.

"How would guys feel about taking a little trip out of Zootopia to visit my family?"

"I don't see why not. When would we go?"

"In a couple o' hours," Nick answered, and stood up to leave the room. "So, I suggest you start packing."

* * *

Judy was standing outside with Jack and Skye, waiting for the rest to be done.

"Are you sure you and Skye don't wanna join us?"

"As tempting as it is to leave this city for a couple of days, We can't. We need to catch up with Mrs. Stevens to go over a few things from last night. But please, enjoy your time away from the city, and we'll see you when you all get back."

Hearing his phone buzz, Jack checked the message, then tutted. "Looks like we need to get going."

Stuffing his phone back in his pocket, he was met with two gray arms wrapped around him. Returning the gesture, then letting go, he cleared his throat and adjusted his collar.

"I guess I should start getting used to those, hm?"

Judy chuckled a bit when she saw Skye roll her eyes, then moved to hug her as well. "You keep him out of trouble, okay?"

"I should be the one saying that. If I recall correctly, _you're_ the one bringing a van full of predators into a primarily bunny-populated town."

"Psh! It'll be fine. Worst case scenario: Nick trips on one of my siblings."

"Yeah, I don't think that'll happen."

Judy turned to see Nick and the others exit the house with small luggage cases, Lily on Nick's shoulders. "Took you guys long enough! And are you really only bringing that much with you?"

"We're about to fit seven mammals into a single van, Carrots, which means we'll have to cram the luggage under the seats. This is the most we could bring. Besides, guys can make a single pair of jeans last three to four days."

"Gross." was Judy and Skye's only reply.

"Alright, well, all of you have a good time. We'll see you in a few days." Nick and the others bid him and Skye goodbye, then looked to Judy.

"Y'all ready?"

"Southern drawl coming back already?"

Rolling her eyes, she opened the back of the van. "Get inside before I throw you in."

* * *

It had been a while since Nick had traveled out of the city. The last time he could recall doing so was once to check on his family, but even then, He hadn't traveled far to get there. Or, at least, that was what he told Judy. She had tried several times to delve deeper into the topic of his family, but each time, he'd change the subject or give some superficial answer that didn't satisfy her curiosity.

Judy couldn't quite put a finger on it, but something about Nick intrigued her. When she first met him, he was this smug, scrawny fox she had intentions of getting to know. But now, he was this spectacle of pain, heartbreak, and untold stories. She had gotten so close to him, but it was only recently that she had realized that they had known each other for half a year, maybe less. She had _so_ many questions, of which he was unwilling or reluctant to answer.

But for the meantime, she opted to simply enjoy the train ride.

Finnick, Joey, and Noah had coaxed her into a game of poker, to which she quickly realized she couldn't play, Katie and Lily were having what she made out to be a history lesson, and Nick was off to the side, looking out the giant glass window. After her third fold (in a row), she pulled out of the game and joined Nick at the window. He made no move to acknowledge her presence and continued to stare out the window, which made her wonder what was going on in his mind. She imagined he'd be reflecting on the night before, or maybe his life in its entirety…

"So. Many. Carrot fields."

Or he could just be astonished by the number of carrot fields.

"The tri-burrows _are_ primarily inhabited by bunnies, so yeah. There are a lot of carrot fields."

"But we're still hours out?"

"As I said, the tri-burrows are primarily inhabited by bunnies, so that means there are millions of bunnies around here. This is a rural area, Nick. Mammals are more spread out around here."

"I know that, Carrots. I grew up outside of Zootopia, it's just." Nick took a deep breath, letting his cheeks puff up. "There's just so. Much. Orange. It's been _way_ too long since I left the city."

Nick's tail was slowly swiping left and right, his most revealing trait that communicated that he was nervous.

"Nick, calm down. Sweet cheese and crackers, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you were meeting my parents as my boyfriend."

"Ugh, how dare you."

Something about that statement felt weird as it came out. She meant it as a joke, but for some reason, it left a weird feeling in her chest. She couldn't quite make it out, but the notion of a relationship, regardless of the statements evident use of satire, felt foreign to her. Shaking herself from her thoughts, she became aware of the radio station playing softly through the speakers.

 _And now, ladies and gentleman, we're gonna bring you some live recordings from last night's city-wide concert in Zootopia, so don't touch that button._

A familiar guitar riff played over the speakers, causing everyone in the train car to perk their ears.

 _Keep pushing this higher, oh I've been living uptight (Take it easy right now) Like a moth to the fire, oh Like I'm losing this fight (Take it easy right now)._

Nick smirked and turned to lean on the railing, and Judy followed suit. The others began bobbing their heads to the beat and Judy watched as other mammals began to whisper to one another and point to them. Very quietly, but loud enough for her to hear, Nick began singing

 _From the day we're born, we are scarred and torn. We've been scared to sing out loud. But we don't care no more, 'cause we know life is short. We don't care who hears us now. Breathe it in and let it out._

It wasn't much long after that a small tiger cub found them and tugged at their shirts. Kneeling down, the two smiled at him.

"Are you Nick and Judy?"

"That would be us, little man. What's your name?"

"Jacob, sir. I-I just wanted to thank you."

"For what, sweetie?"

"I was bullied a lot for being a predator. I-I wanted to be a ranger scout, but the other kits wouldn't let me. But after last night, they came back and apologized to me. If it wasn't for you guys, I would still have been bullied a lot."

Judy turned to Nick, who was smiling so warmly, he radiated. Ruffling the cub's fur, he reached behind his neck and unclipped the necklace around it. On it was an old guitar pick with the band's logo etched on it.

"Here, Jacob, I want you to have this. I've had this pick since I started playing when I was about your age, so take good care of it."

The cub, overwhelmed with excitement, hugged him around the neck, then did the same to Judy. Running back to a tiger they assumed was his older sister, they saw her mouth 'thank you' to them, and they nodded.

"You're a good guy, Nick. It took me a while to realize it, but you're a good guy."

"Nah, I'm a terrifying monster."

"More like a fruitcake."

Laughing together, they turned back to the window to see more carrot fields, still hours away from their destination.

"Okay, you're right. There are a lot of carrot fields."

 **A/N:**

 **Hey, everyone, it's Flapjack. I'm finally feeling better, which is great because I can get back to playing music and writing again. Sorry it took so long for this chapter, but Fluff's out of town and I've been bed-ridden. But, on the bright side, we're getting close to the end of this story arc.**

 **So, chapter notes! As you can see, Nick and Judy are getting close, perhaps a little too close for Nick's taste. Who knows where THAT could lead?... well I do.**

 **The song is _Let it Out_ by Switchfoot, a great band I'd suggest listening to. **

**We're comin' up on the end of the _Humble Beginnings_ arc, and by coming up on the end, I mean next chapter will conclude it. BUT DON'T WORRY! We're by no means finished, and we'll keep posting whenever we can.**

 **As always, I encourage you to fave/follow us and this fic. Please leave reviews! We don't necessarily reply to all of them, but we read 'em all. What'd you like? What'd you not like? Any suggestions? Songs? Anything you wanna see more of? Anything less? Feel free to ask away at anything!**

 **That's all we have for today, though. Fluff should be getting back from her family trip soon, so hopefully we'll be able to put out chapters a _little_ bit faster. But, until then, I'm just gonna sashay my way outta here. Y'all have a good one.**


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